Rootstock-scion interaction: 5. Effect on the evolution of Cabernet Sauvignon grape ripening

The rootstock effect on grapevine yield components, grape must and wine composition and wine sensory characteristics were evaluated in previous studies. This experiment carried out over five years had the objective to determine the effect of the rootstock on the evolution of variables related to sugar and acidity contents of the juice during grape ripening. The treatments consisted of Cabernet Sauvignon grapevine grafted on rootstocks such as Rupestris du Lot, 101-14 Mgt, 3309 C, 420A Mgt, 5BB K, 161-49 C, SO4, Solferino, 1103 P, 99 R, 110 R, Gravesac, Fercal, Dogridge and Isabel. The berries were sampled during the grape ripening period, on nine dates during the summer of each year. Taken to the laboratory, they were hand crushed and the juice was centrifuged to separate the solid and liquid phase, where the supernatant was then used for physicochemical analyses. The data were submitted to Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and polynomial regression analysis. The main results show that, at grape maturity, the PCA discriminated mainly the juices of CS/101-14 Mgt, CS/SO4 and CS/Gravesac, which had high density, total soluble solids, total soluble solids/titratable acidity ratio and pH, and CS/Dogridge and CS/Fercal, which had high titratable acidity. The density, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, total soluble solids/titratable acidity ratio increased as grape ripened, but the titratable acidity decreased. However, the increase or decrease rates were lower at the end of the grape ripening cycle according to the variable, and the total soluble solids having the highest increase (116.3%) and the titratable acidity the highest decrease (68.3%).