Carménère is an important grapevine (
Vitis vinifera
L.) variety from the Chilean wine industry, which has a low fertility in
their basal buds, affecting negatively yield. Due to this, the aim of this work was to characterize and evaluate technological
maturity, percentage of bud break, practical bud fertility, yield components, bunch structure and yield index by practical
fertility reached in each nodal position in buds along Carménère canes. Bud break reached an average of 79.9% along
the cane, with extreme values from 57.3% to 98.7%. Bud fertility reached an average of 1.3 bunch per bud, with extreme
values from 0.9 to 1.7. According to this, ‘Carménère’ showed a low fertility in basal buds. Weight of bunch varied from
108.0 to 214.7 g. Number and weight of berries was higher in the buds from distal nodal positions. Bunch structure
parameters, such as stalk length, number and length of primary wings, and yield index by practical fertility was also
higher in the bud from distal nodal positions. Moreover, large size berries represent 50% of berries and 80% of weight of
berries. Due to this, ‘Carménère’ productivity is limited by small size berries. These findings are important to determine
the viticultural managements that should be performed in ‘Carménère’ vineyards.
