Estimation of phenolic compounds in tropical red wines elaborated in Northeast Brazil.

Vitiviniculture has been developed since 1980's in an area between 8° and 9 o S Iatitudeof Northeast BraziI. This area presents an intra-annua?l climate variability, with an annual average temperature of 26.4°C, located at 350 m above sea leveI. The rainy season occurs from December to March, with about 567 mm of rainfall. The heliothermical availability is about 3000 hours of luminosity.year' and allows a continuous crop vegetative development. The total area cultivated for winemaking is about 700 ha and cultivars used for tropical red wines are Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The objective of this study was to estimate total anthocyanins and tannins according to spectrophotometric methods in four red wines, elaborated from cultivars recently introduced in the region.Resumo