Effects of Salinity on Vineyards and Wines from Mendoza, Argentina

More than 160,000 ha in Mendoza Province, Argentina, are cultured with vineyards, and a large percentage is grown in areas with high salinity. The correlations of soil salinity with the ion concentration in wines, in vineyards located in saline areas of the Mendoza River Basin were examined. Some relevant conclusions are: (i) chloride concentrations in petioles at harvest were in general lower than 1%, except for Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec in high soil salinity sites; (ii) chlorides in musts exceeded legal limits in Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, and Pedro Gimenez; (iii) chlorides in musts and in wines were not clearly related; (iv) the correlation between chlorides in soil and wine was r = 0.50; (v) there were significant correlations between soil pH and must pH and between wine K concentration and wine pH; (vi) the K concentration in musts and wines was not related to salinity variables or exchangeable soil K. The 2017 vintage wines from the area were tested by a wine tasting panel. The experts perceived salty flavors that were positively associated with bitterness in wines from districts with saline soil. Boron excess in vines is not frequently observed in the northern oasis of Mendoza.