Influence of edapho-climatic factors on grape quality in Conca de Barberà vineyards (Catalonia, Spain)

Soil and climate of 3 vineyards have been characterised in order to determine their influence on grape quality. These vineyards are located in Conca de Barberà (Catalonia, NE Spain) and belong to Cabernet sauvignon and Grenache noir cultivars. All 3 plots are very close, so only interannual climatic data of the nearest meteorological station have been considered. Different climatic indexes have been calculated from climatic data. The studied vineyard soils present very different textural classes and rock fragment contents, causing very distinct soil water regimes. Besides determining chemical and physical properties of soils, the soil water availability has been characterised using capacitance sensors at different depths for the period from 2003 to 2005. Data of quality of grapes were available. Statistical techniques, concretely Principal Component Analysis and Multiple Regression Analysis, have been used to relate edapho-climatic factors to grape quality. The results show that edapho-climatic data have a high power of estimation on grape quality (generally, R2 higher than 0.75). Climate appeared to be the most influencing factor, followed by water availability. Soil had also influence on grape yield and some must data.