Chemical Profile and Phenolic Composition of Commercial Chilean Pinot Noir Wines from Clonal and Mass-Selection

In Chile, Pinot Noir is currently cultivated on 3937 hectares, representing 7.3% of the national vineyard area dedicated to wine production. Two distinct groups of Pinot Noir plant material coexist in commercial vineyards, as officially documented by the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture: historical mass selections introduced during the 19th century (e.g., Valdivieso: Val and Concha y Toro: C&T) and certified French clonal selections (notably 115 and 777) introduced in the 1990s. Given the relevance of phenolic compounds to wine quality-particularly their role in color stability and mouthfeel-wines produced from these selections were analyzed for spectrophotometric traits and individual phenolics using high-performance liquid chromatography. Results revealed variation in parameters associated with total phenolic content and wine composition. However, no consistent differentiation between clonal and massal-derived wines was observed. Overall, the findings suggest that, under commercial winemaking conditions, the genetic origin of the planting material exerts only a limited influence on the chemical composition of Chilean Pinot Noir wines.