Clonal preselection of grapevine cultivars of the appellation “Cangas Quality Wine” (Asturias, Spain)

Abstract

The Asturian vineyard is composed mostly of autochthonous minority cultivars only present in the northwest of Spain. This vineyard is characterized by its antiquity, confusion as to the identity of certain cultivars, lack of certified plant material, and a great number of mixed cultivars in each individual vineyard. With the aim of restoring this viticulture after years of abandonment and improving the quality of its wines, old plants belonging to four red grapevine cultivars (Albarín tinto, Carrasquín, Verdejo tinto, and Mencía) presenting a good sanitary state and adequate yield were selected for clonal preselection. Agronomic and enological data were collected over three years. Those plants exhibiting above average values of probable alcohol content and yield for their respective vineyards were tested for viruses so as to discard unhealthy individuals. Six loci microsatellites were analysed to verify the identity of the selected plants. A final number of 62 clones belonging to these cultivars were selected for planting in a plot for their subsequent study under homogeneous conditions.