WINETECH Technical Yearbook 2019

Improving consistency from the grape to the glass; from the vineyard to the wine. INTRODUCTION Vineyards are complex variable systems and perennial crops change from season to season. In any vineyard you have variability from soil and geography; you also have the harvest ripeness of the grapes to consider and the cultivation practices imposed. An interesting question, which was asked, is do enzymes have any impact on vineyard variability brought from the grapes harvested at different ripeness levels into the winemaking? How do enzymes effect this variability? Does the enzyme addition show up in the wines produced? These became the major questions asked in this research study. YU GAO, MELANÉ VIVIER & JOHN MOORE: Institute for Wine Biotechnology, Department of Viticulture and Oenology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch KEYWORDS: Enzymes, Cabernet Sauvignon, pectinases, vineyard variability. JULY 2019 PECTINASES IMPROVE CONSISTENCY IN WINEMAKING