Floral, spicy and herbaceous active odorants in Gran Negro grapes from shoulders and tips into the cluster, and comparison with Brancellao and Mouratón varieties

Within the framework of a more and more competitive market, the opportunity to obtain different wines from the same variety cultivated in the same vineyard is becoming of increasing importance. In this study the presence of aroma compounds in Gran Negro (Vitis vinifera L.) grapes was investigated in order to obtain its aroma potential fingerprint taking into consideration the separation of apical (tips) and basal (shoulders) berries of the clusters. In the final stages of maturation, differences were searched in the probable alcohol content, total acidity of the must, as well as in the aromatic composition of skin and flesh from shoulder and cluster tip berries. A GC-MS method was used to determine the aromatic composition. The obtained results showed that there was variability for their aromatic composition. These results are promising for those wine cellars that are considering the separation of berries from tips and shoulders of the clusters for the elaboration of wines with different qualities. For the berries from the tips of the clusters, aromatic alcohols and volatile phenols were mainly found in the flesh (15 and 2 times higher than in the skin, respectively); whereas aldehydes and C6 alcohols were mainly in the skin (4 and 3 times higher than in the flesh, respectively). For this reason, it could be recommended to separate berry skin before enzymatic maceration of the berry flesh must. For the berries from the shoulders of the clusters, the group of volatile phenols showed 2 times more concentration in the skin than in the flesh; it could be recommended to maintain berry skin during enzymatic maceration of the must. Overall, the tips showed a 40% lower level of C6 alcohols (contributing to herbaceous nuances). These results from Gran Negro were compared with those of Brancellao and Mouratón cultivars. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This work was granted by EU FEDER funds, by Ministry of Science and Technology (Spain) INIA RF-2008-00002-C02 and by the INCITE09 383 322 PR (Autonomous Community Government in NW Spain) contracts. C. Gonzalez-Barreiro acknowledges the grant from the Galician Human Resources Program known as “Isidro Parga Pondal”, whereas R. Noguerol-Pato acknowledges the grant from the Spanish Human Resources Program known as “FPU”.Peer Reviewe