Influence of continental climates on the volatile profile of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from five Chinese viticulture regions

Most Chinese viticulture regions feature a continental monsoon climate with hot-wet summers and dry-cold winters, giving grapes markedly different growing environments compared to the Mediterranean or oceanic climates. This study investigated the influence of continental climates on the volatile compounds of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon from five Chinese viticulture regions and the relationship between meteorological metrics and volatile concentrations in the 2014 and 2015 vintages. Grape berries from the climatically similar Wujiaqu (WJQ) and Yuquanying (YQY) regions had similar 6/9-carbon (C6/C9) compound and norisoprenoid contents. Berries from the Yantai (YT) and Jingyang (JY) regions with higher temperature and humidity had higher norisoprenoid contents than those from WJQ and YQY regions. Hierarchical clustering analysis showed that the vintage effect on grape volatile profiles prevailed over the regional effect. Grape berries from climatically similar WJQ and YQY regions exhibited similar volatile profiles and from the Deqin(DQ) region with a specific terroir showed significantly different volatile profiles from those of other regions. Pearson correlation analysis showed that (E)-β-damascenone, β-ionone, hexanal, 2-hexanol, (Z)-3-hexenol and (E)-2-hexenol were closely associated with minimum and maximum temperature, average relative humidity, sunshine duration and frost-free days, suggesting that these compounds might comprise a signature for distinguishing the volatile profiles of grape berries from different regions. This study would enhance our understanding of grape responses to continental monsoon climate through the accumulation of volatiles.