Color hue and color intensity analysis were done on the skin and on pulp of Vitis vinifera Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Vitis labrusca Isabel. Samples were collected weekly from some weeks before veraison to harvest during the years of 1989-1990 and 1991-1992. The skin hue decreased in the beginning, stabilizing after veraison. The good climatic conditions - low rain and humidity, lots of sunshine days - of the 1991 harvest had no influence on the hue. The color intensity of the skin, on the other hand, increased during all the maturation period. In the good climatic conditions of january and february of 1991, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc e Merlot produced more color intensity in the skin what did not happen with Pinot Noir and Isabel. Color intensity in the pulp was stable; the hue, not very stable at the beginning, stabilized later on in the last period of maturation.
color; maturation; red grape
