Scientific rationale and application of clonal selection for enhancing enological properties of Vitis vinifera L.

Abstract

The work is devoted to a current trend – clonal selection. Clonal selection in viticulture is one of the key directions of varietal improvement, the main goal of which is to identify, evaluate and establish genetically stable subtypes within the same variety in the form of clones characterized by high productivity, qualitative improvements and adaptability. The core of this process is the identification and analysis of variants of plants of mutational origin that differ in morphological and biological economic characteristics. A clone can only be considered a subtype whose changed phenotypic characteristics are preserved at the level of vegetative generations, demonstrating hereditary stability.

These approaches, which have become a precedent, have led to the fact that in the future, the need for the use of clonal selection has been persistently emphasized in the field of viticulture. The main goals of clonal selection are: the separation of high-yielding clones, improving fruit quality, identifying early ripening clones, and other targeted improvements. The results obtained in various wine-growing countries of the world confirm the effectiveness of clonal selection in terms of realizing the advantages of vegetative variability of grape varieties. In many cases, clones of regionalized grape varieties exceed the productivity of their original versions by 1.5–2 times. This is due to both the  quantitative increase in the harvest and the improvement of qualitative indicators. Thus, clonal selection is one of the effective methods of increasing grape productivity.