Bunch exposure effects on the quality of pinot noir and chardonnay fruit and base wines for cool climate sparkiling wine production

Sparkling wine production in cool climates has particular focus on the composition of the phenolics present in the finished wine, however little is to be found in the literature as to how fruit can be manipulated to produce the desired result. A feature of cool climates is longer day length and therefore increased exposure to Ultra-Violet (UV) light. Hydroxycinnamates (important for sparkling wine mouthfeel and texture) have been shown to respond to increased UV-B exposure and through the use of scanning spectrophotometry, the impact of increased bunch exposure through leaf removal was investigated in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir across two sites in Tasmania, Australia. Removing leaves before flowering was shown to drive the differences in these base wines from the base wines made from vines with no leaves removed and the key wavelengths of 260, 310 and 330 nm are indicative of hydroxycinnamates. This study fully encompassed the notion of vine to wine research.