PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Tommaso Frioni
AU  - Sergio Tombes
AU  - Oriana Silvestroni
AU  - Vania Lanari
AU  - Andrea Bellincontro
AU  - Paolo Sabbatini
AU  - Matteo Gatti
AU  - Stefano Poni
AU  - Alberto Palliotti
TI  - Post-Budburst Spur-Pruning Reduces Yield and Delays Fruit Sugar Accumulation in cv. Sangiovese in Central Italy
AID  - 10.5344/ajev.2016.15120
DP  - 2016 Aug 17
TA  - American Journal of Enology and Viticulture
PG  - ajev.2016.15120
4099  - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2016/08/16/ajev.2016.15120.short
4100  - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2016/08/16/ajev.2016.15120.full
AB  - The influence of pruning date on yield control and ripening rate of spur-pruned Sangiovese grapevines was investigated over two years (2013 and 2014). Winter pruning was applied on February 1,4 (mid-dormancy); March 1,5 (late-dormancy); April 2,7 (bud swell); May 2,7 (flowers closely pressed together) and June 1,6 (40–50% of flower caps fallen). Vine yield and fruit composition at harvest were not affected by shifting from the standard pruning dates of mid and late dormancy to the bud swell stage. By contrast, the number of inflorescences from compound buds was significantly reduced for vines pruned early May. No inflorescences were retained on vines pruned at the beginning of June. Early May pruning reduced fruit-set and berry weight, and fruit ripening was slower when compared to the other pruning dates. At harvest, must soluble solids and titratable acidity were 1.6 Brix lower and 1.8 g/l higher, respectively, for the May treatment as compared to the standard pruning dates. The early May pruning dates also achieved higher total anthocyanins and phenolic concentrations than the standard pruning dates, indication that this technique can potentially decouple the accumulation dynamics of these components. Further studies are needed to better calibrate winter pruning date for managing yield and berry maturation rate.