The plasticity of the grapevine berry transcriptome

Vitis vinifera cultivar Corvina clone 48 berries were harvested from different vineyards, each located in one of the three most important wine production macro-areas of the Verona region: Bardolino, Valpolicella and Soave, on the basis of the site geographical coordinates. For each of the selected vineyards, specific environmental conditions (altitude and type of soil) and farming and agricultural practices used (training system, rows facing direction, planting layout, vineyard age and rootstock type) were recorded. Vineyards were selected in order to maximize differences in locations and in microenvironmental and farming conditions. Berries were harvested at three different developmental stages: véraison, mid-ripening and harvest; each sample was collected in three biological replicates, to cover the whole vineyard variability. The same sampling procedure had been repeated over three consecutive vintages (2006, 2007 and 2008).