Young varietal and experimental wines from Vitis vinifera - Petit Verdot,Tempranillo and Syrah - cultivated in a tropical semiarid region (Northeast Brazil) were evaluated with regard to their phenolic composition and chromatic characteristics during a storage period of 12-month. The wine was stored in bottles and evaluated using spectrophotometry and high efficiency liquid chromatography to determine color, total polyphenols, anthocyanins, flavanols and flavonols. The Petit Verdot had a less color variation when compared to wines from temperate climates. Although the wines followed the traditional pattem of decreasing polyphenol concentration during storage, the concentrations of these compounds remained higher than those reported in literature, such as for the anthocyanins in Petit Verdot wines and transresveratrolin Syrah, showing possible beneficial health effects even after storag
