The Variability of Berry Parameters Could Be an Indicator of the Potential Quality of the Vineyard

Background: Berry quality potential from a single vineyard is mainly defined based on some physicochemical parameters and subjective assessments. In this way, berry maturity variability would be a key factor affecting berry quality. Methods: This trial aimed to study the effects of the maturity variability of berries harvested from plots of low (~37,080 kg ha−1), middle (~12,545 kg ha−1), and high (~1476 kg ha−1) quality potential on berry and wine physicochemical parameters of Cabernet Sauvignon in two consecutive seasons. The quality potential of the plots was defined by the winemakers considering mostly yield per hectare and the final price of their wines. Results: The berry heterogeneous maturity of soluble solids and berry weight in Cabernet Sauvignon was confirmed. The coefficient of variability (CV) of berry weight of high-quality plots was high at véraison and decreased as ripening progressed, reaching CV of 19.9% at harvest. Low-quality plots showed the lowest CV of berry weight in all the studied dates, whereas high-quality plots presented the lowest CV in soluble solids content of berries, reaching a 5.1% of variability at harvest. The physicochemical parameters showed that high-quality plots were characterized by high levels of soluble solids and phenolic maturity parameters, whereas samples from low-quality plots reached high berry weight and malic acid content. Berry differences among the physicochemical parameters determined wine quality, which allowed for plots to be classified by their potential quality at harvest. Conclusions: Studying maturity variability of soluble solids and berry weight will allow for sampling to be sectorized within a vineyard to reduce the extremes of maturity that would affect wine quality and productive goals of winemakers.