THE IMPACT OF THE HARVESTING YEAR ON CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VRANEC WINE

This paper defines chemical and physical characteristics of Vranec wine, grown in region of Povardarie, particular Tikvesh wine region. Vranec is a Montenegrin autochthonous grape variety and also it is one of most widespread red wine varieties in Macedonian vineyard regions. Due to grape localized geography it produces a dry red wine of unique taste that is synonymous with Balkans. The samples differ between each other by year of harvest: 2009, 2010 and 2011. All samples have finished fermentation in a bundle and then were stored in a storage tank for finished wine. The physical–chemical properties of tested wines (total acid, pH, lactic acid, acetic acid, malic acid, citric acid, reducing sugars, total sugars, volatile acids, alcohol, total and free SO2, polyphenols, anthocyanins, colour intensity and shade) were determinated by using traditional and advanced analytical techniques. Also, correlation of variation of climatic parameters during different harvest years with characteristics of produced wines was assessed.