Effect of vineyard yield on the composition of sparkling wines produced from the grape cultivar Parellada

The influence of vineyard yield on the phenolic, volatile and nitrogen compounds, on the foam characteristics and on the sensory quality of sparkling wines made from grapes of the Parellada variety was studied. Sixteen sparkling wines were manufactured industrially from four base wines. Two of the base wines were manufactured with grapes from a low-yielding vineyard, below 10,500 kg/ha, and the other two with grapes from a higher-yielding vineyard, above 10,500 kg/ha. Significant differences were found, in relation to vineyard yield, for the concentrations of 9 of the 16 phenolic compounds determined, in most of the volatile compounds and in several free amino acids. No significant differences were detected between foam characteristics of wines from low- and high-yield vineyards. The wines from low-yield vineyards were considered, by the tasters, to have better sensory quality than the wines from high-yield vineyards.