Primary Study of Viticultural and Oenological Characteristics of ‘Plavac Mali Sivi’ and its Comparison with ‘Po ip’ and ‘Grk’ in the Central Dalmatia

Characterization of ‘Plavac Mali Sivi’, a mutant of ‘Plavac Mali’ noir, having grey berry skin colour, and its comparison with well-known white cultivars in the region of Dalmatia ‘Po ip’ and ‘Grk’ were performed in this study. Basic viticultural and oenological characteristics were evaluated in three growing seasons in the grape germplasm repository. ‘Plavac Mali Sivi’ showed lower yield per vine, and cluster weight than other two cultivars. Number of berries per cluster differed significantly among cultivars. ‘Plavac Mali Sivi’ had significantly lower total acidity than ‘Po ip’ and ‘Grk’. High oenological variability among these three cultivars was found. ‘Plavac Mali Sivi’ had a relatively high content of alcohol (13.9 vol.%) and equal to ‘Po ip’ (13.9 vol.%), and significantly different from the ‘Grk’ (12.8 vol.%). The highest content of dry extract was determined at ‘Po ip’, while ‘Plavac Mali Sivi’ and ‘Grk’ were not significantly different. The results of this study indicate the possibility of providing a new white wine for the market from recently propagated mutant ‘Plavac Mali Sivi’ in the region of Dalmatia and justify further technological investigation.