Integrated chemical markers of regional typicity in Chilean cool-climate Pinot noir wines

Abstract

Pinot noir wines produced under cool-climate conditions often display subtle phenolic expression and high sensitivity to environmental variation, making the identification of regional typicity particularly challenging. In Chile, the recent expansion of Pinot noir into diverse cool-climate areas has increased the need for robust analytical approaches capable of distinguishing regional characteristics based on objective chemical parameters. In this work, forty-three commercial Vitis vinifera L. cv. Pinot noir wines from five Chilean cool-climate regions (Limarí, Casablanca, Leyda–San Antonio, Southern, and Austral), corresponding to the 2021 and 2022 vintages, were characterized through an integrated analytical strategy combining phenolic composition, polysaccharide fractions, and color chemistry. Low-molecular-weight phenolics and individual anthocyanins were quantified by HPLC–DAD, polysaccharides were analyzed according to molecular weight distribution using HPSEC–RID, and color parameters were determined by UV–visible spectrophotometry together with CIELAB coordinates. The results revealed significant regional differences mainly associated with anthocyanin composition, chromatic expression, and specific polysaccharide fractions, whereas total phenolic content and total tannins showed limited discriminatory capacity. These findings highlight the usefulness of combining targeted chemical analyses to define regional signatures and improve the understanding of terroir expression in Chilean cool-climate Pinot noir wines.

References

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