Vintage - and Vineyard-Related Variation in Chardonnay Berry Traits and Volatile Profiles

Vintage and vineyard-specific variation are important components of terroir expression, but their relative contributions are difficult to distinguish using broad soil descriptors. We examined Chardonnay berries from six commercial vineyards in Shandong, China, representing three prespecified soil-texture classes across 2022 and 2023. Berry physicochemical traits and semi-quantitative volatile profiles were assessed using replicated vineyard sampling and HS-SPME-GC-MS, with vineyard as the independent inferential unit. In 2023, pH declined and hundred-berry weight increased at all vineyards; these univariate patterns did not pass FDR correction. The multivariate volatile profile differed between vintages under three abundance-preserving analyses (exact p = 0.0313), whereas the Hellinger analysis of within-sample relative composition did not support the same contrast (p = 0.3438). Total volatile abundances followed opposing trajectories among vineyards, including sites assigned to the same soil-texture class. No compound, volatile class or berry trait provided an FDR-controlled soil-texture-class signature. The results identify a vintage-associated multivariate pattern dependent on abundance information and marked vineyard-specific heterogeneity, underscoring the importance of distinguishing seasonal contrasts, site context and analytical representation when interpreting Chardonnay terroir.