Volatile composition and sensory characteristics of Carménère wines macerating with Colombian (Quercus humboldtii) oak chips compared to wines macerated with American (Q. alba) and European (Q. petraea) oak chips

The Influence of Active Compounds of Chips Made from Different Wood Species on the Antioxidant, Oenological and Sensory Properties of Apple Wines

Wood chips contain numerous active compounds that can affect the wine's characteristics. They are commonly used in red grape wines, whisky, cherry and brandy, but in fruit wines, production is not typically utilised. The aim of this study was to compare the impact of an oak barrel ageing with the effect of the addition of chips made from various types of wood (oak, maple, cherry, apple) and with various degrees of toasting to the apple wines on their antioxidant, oenological and sensory properties. The oenological parameters, the polyphenols content, antioxidant activity and content of volatile odour-active compounds were assessed. It was shown that ageing in the presence of wood chips had a less noticeable effect on the oenological and sensory parameters of the wine than barrel ageing. Moreover, wood chips used did not significantly affect the acidity, alcohol and extract content of apple wines. Wines aged in the presence of oak chips (particularly lightly toasted) exhibited the greatest increase in polyphenols, while the polyphenol content of wines aged in the presence of other chips was not dependent on their toasting degree. The ageing of fruit wines with wood chips influences the volatile profile and the olfactory sensations, which can improve their quality.

Optimization of HS-SPME-GC/MS Analysis of Wine Volatiles Supported by Chemometrics for the Aroma Profiling of Trebbiano d'Abruzzo and Pecorino White Wines Produced in Abruzzo (Italy)

Headspace Solid-Phase Microextraction coupled to Gas-Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry detection (HS-SPME/GC-MS) has been widely used to analyze the composition of wine aroma. This technique was here applied to investigate the volatile profile of Trebbiano d'Abruzzo and Pecorino white wines produced in Abruzzo (Italy). Optimization of SPME conditions was conducted by Design of Experiments combined with Response Surface Methodology. We investigated the influence of the kind of sorbent, PDMS, CW/DVB, or PDMS/CAR/DVB, and the effect of the fiber exposure time, temperature, and salt concentration on the total area of the chromatogram and the extraction efficiency of ethyl decanoate and 3-methyl-1-butanol, representative of apolar and polar compounds, respectively. The PDMS/CAR/DVB sorbent allowed the extraction of about 70 compounds, whereas only a part of these substances could be extracted on the PDMS and CW/DVB fibers. Reliable response surfaces for the total area and peak areas of the selected volatiles collected on the PDMS and PDMS/CAR/DVB sorbents and, in the latter case, principal component analysis were evaluated to find the optimal conditions. The optimized extraction conditions were applied for a preliminary comparison of the volatile profile of the two wine varieties and in a successive varietal discrimination study based on data-fusion approaches.

The Application of Wood Species in Enology: Chemical Wood Composition and Effect on Wine Quality

Aging wine is a usual practice in winemaking, as the wine quality improves due to the compounds extracted from wood barrels or chips, cubes, blocks, or staves used. The wood species used are traditionally oak, namely from Quercus petraea, Q. alba, or Q. robur species. In the last years, the increasing request for oak wood has caused a significant increase in environmental and production costs. Therefore, heartwood from several alternative species has been considered a potential wood source for winemaking and aging. Thus, the main purpose of this review is the application of these alternative wood species on wine production and to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of its use compared with the traditional wood species, namely oak wood. In addition, a brief chemical characterization of several wood species with possible application in enology is also discussed in this review.

Alternative Woods in Oenology: Volatile Compounds Characterisation of Woods with Respect to Traditional Oak and Effect on Aroma in Wine, a Review

The interest of winemakers to find new woods that can give their wines a special personality and the need for cooperage wood have led to the use of other woods than traditional oak. The aroma of wines is undoubtedly one of the quality factors most valued by consumers. Volatile compounds from wood are transferred to wines during ageing. The type and quantity of aromas in wood depend on several factors, with the species, origin and cooperage treatments, particularly toasting, being very important. The transfer of volatile compounds to the wine depends not only on the wood but also on the wine itself and the type of ageing. This review therefore aims to recapitulate the volatile composition of alternative oenological woods at different cooperage stages and to compare them with traditional woods. It also summarises studies on the effect of wine aromas during ageing both in barrels and with fragments of alternative woods. In summary, it is observed that both woods and wines aged with alternative species of the Quercus genus present the same volatile compounds as traditional ones, but differ quantitatively; however, non-Quercus woods also differ qualitatively.

Wine Aging Technology: Fundamental Role of Wood Barrels

The aging of wines is a process used to preserve wine but also to enhance its properties. It is a process of great interest, mainly because of the additional properties it adds to wines and because of its economic implications. Historically, barrels have been employed for centuries for preserving and aging wine due to their resistance and relative impermeability. In general terms, the wine aging process can be divided into two phases: oxidative and reductive aging. Oxidative aging traditionally takes place in barrels while reductive phase occurs in the bottle. During both processes, oxygen plays a fundamental role as well as other factors, for instance: temperature, light, bottle position, microbial growth or storage time. Likewise, during the aging process, a series of chemical reactions take place influencing the composition and organoleptic profile of wine. At this point, oxidative aging in barrels is a fundamental step. Barrels are directly involved in the produced changes on wine's composition due to the transference of oxygen and phenolic and aromatic compounds from wood to wine. This way, barrels act as an active vessel capable of releasing compounds that affect and improve wine's characteristics. Regarding, the importance of barrels during aging process, some attention must be given to the species most used in cooperage. These species are conventionally oak species, either French or American. However, other non-conventional species are currently being studied as possible wood sources for the production of wines, such as chestnut robinia or other oak species. In the last decades, new approaches have been developed for barrel aging to find new alternatives more suitable, affordable and feasible to sanitize the process, such as other materials different from wood or the use of wood chips, which is regulated since 2006 by the EU. However, even though some of them have shown promising data, barrels are currently the most used technology for the oxidative stage of table wines aging.

Alternative Woods in Enology: Characterization of Tannin and Low Molecular Weight Phenol Compounds with Respect to Traditional Oak Woods. A Review

Wood is one of the most highly valued materials in enology since the chemical composition and sensorial properties of wine change significantly when in contact with it. The need for wood in cooperage and the concern of enologists in their search for new materials to endow their wines with a special personality has generated interest in the use of other Quercus genus materials different from the traditional ones (Q. petraea, Q. robur and Q. alba) and even other wood genera. Thereby, species from same genera such as Q. pyrenaica Willd., Q. faginea Lam., Q. humboldtti Bonpl., Q. oocarpa Liebm., Q. stellata Wangenh, Q. frainetto Ten., Q. lyrata Walt., Q. bicolor Willd. and other genera such as Castanea sativa Mill. (chestnut), Robinia pseudoacacia L. (false acacia), Prunus avium L. and P. cereaus L. (cherry), Fraxinus excelsior L. (European ash) and F. americana L. (American ash) have been studied with the aim of discovering whether they could be a new reservoir of wood for cooperage. This review aims to summarize the characterization of tannin and low molecular weight phenol compositions of these alternative woods for enology in their different cooperage stages and compare them to traditional oak woods, as both are essential to proposing their use in cooperage for aging wine.

Resurgence of minority and autochthonous grapevine varieties in South America: a review of their oenological potential

In contrast with the general trend of producing wine from the most famous grapevine varieties, associated with the French paradigm, such as Cabernet-Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay, there is a tendency to revalorize and preserve minority or autochthonous grapevine varieties worldwide. The South American wine region, where most of the varieties derived from varieties brought after European colonization, is not exempt from this. This has allowed new wines to be provided with distinctive identities that are markedly different from the current homogeneous wine production. Moreover, varietal homogenization increases vineyard genetic vulnerability in relation to the emergence of grapevine diseases, to which the commonly cultivated varieties are not resistant. This review summarizes the oenological potential of minority or autochthonous grapevine varieties cultivated within the South American wine region, focusing on Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effect of size, seasoning and toasting level of Quercus pyrenaica Willd. wood on wine phenolic composition during maturation process with micro-oxygenation

Seasoning and toasting treatments carried out in cooperage influence the chemical composition of the oak, and these treatments affect different oak species in different ways. For this reason, numerous studies have focused on the evaluation of both the oak wood materials and the resulting aged wines in order to optimize the different cooperage processes. Seasoning involves immobilizing the wood for long periods of time, leading to an increase in the price of the final product. When using alternative products instead of barrels, in addition to the seasoning and toasting of the wood, the size of the wood pieces is a determining factor in the characteristics of the final wine. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate the polyphenolic composition of the same red wine aged with different alternative products and a small amount of oxygen for 120 days. Specifically, the effect of 2 types of seasoning and 3 types of toasting of chips and staves made from the wood of Q. pyrenaica Willd. was studied. The results showed that the size of the alternative product was the factor that determines the phenolic composition of the wines over the entire ageing process, independent of the seasoning or toasting method carried out on the wood.

Winemaking with vine-shoots. Modulating the composition of wines by using their own resources

Vine-shoots from two important Vitis vinifera, Airén and Cencibel, have been prepared in two different formats (chip and granule) and added (12 g/L) in their own wines in different winemaking steps. Results have shown significant differences depending in all conditions tested, and wine chemical composition was modulated while in contact with vine-shoots. Compounds such as trans-resveratrol, increased its concentration up to 4 mg/L in Airén white wines. In Cencibel red wines, vanillin was found in a concentration four times above its odor threshold and independently of the vine-shoot variety, format and moment of addition, compounds such as (-)-epicatechin and (+)-catechin increased the concentration with respect to the control wine. When vine-shoots were added after fermentation, β-ionol appeared for first time in all wines. In case of guaiacol, the higher increment was observed for Airén wines. Therefore, it is possible to elaborate distinctive wines using their own resources.

Assessment of vine-shoots in a model wines as enological additives

For the first time, the possibility of using vine-shoots as enological additives, similar to oak chips, is proposed. Their volatile and phenolic compounds contribution to a model wine was studied. Variables such as vine-shoot vinifera (Airén and Cencibel), size (chip and granule), toasting (toasted and non-toasted), dosage (4 and 12 g/L) and maceration time (1, 7, 21, 35 and 120 days) were tested. Results showed an important transference of high-value enological compounds after 35 days of maceration with 12 g/L of toasted vine-shoots. Vanillin or guaiacol were found in concentrations always higher than their wine odor thresholds, depending on the variety and vine-shoot formats used. Moreover, trans-resveratrol and ellagic acid stand out for their high concentrations. This transference rate shows the enological aptitude of vine-shoots with a possibly positive contribution in real wines, both at sensory and functional level, although future studies in real wines must be carried out.

Use of Oak Fragments during the Aging of Red Wines. Effect on the Phenolic, Aromatic, and Sensory Composition of Wines as a Function of the Contact Time with the Wood

The use of oak fragments allows wine cellars to reduce costs and the length of wine aging compared to traditional aging in oak barrels in the winery. The main objective of this work was to study the effect of the use of oak fragments on the volatile, phenolic, and organoleptic characteristics of Tempranillo red wines, as a function of the contact time between the wood and the wine. The results showed important changes in the wines’ colorimetric parameters after two months of contact time. Extraction kinetics of volatile compounds from the wood was highest during the first month of contact for chips, variable for staves, and slower and continuous over time for barrels. Wines macerated with fragments showed the best quality in short periods of aging, while barrel-aged wines improved over the time they spent in the barrel. In addition, the results allowed an analytical discrimination between the wines aged with oak fragments and those aged in oak barrels, and between chips and staves, just as at the sensory level with triangular tasting tests. In conclusion, the use of oak fragments is a suitable practice for the production of red wines, which may be an appropriate option for wines destined to be aged for short periods.

Different Woods in Cooperage for Oenology: A Review

Contact of wine with wood during fermentation and ageing produces significant changes in its chemical composition and organoleptic properties, modifying its final quality. Wines acquire complex aromas from the wood, improve their colour stability, flavour, and clarification, and extend their storage period. New trends in the use of barrels, replaced after a few years of use, have led to an increased demand for oak wood in cooperage. In addition, the fact that the wine market is becoming increasingly saturated and more competitive means that oenologists are increasingly interested in tasting different types of wood to obtain wines that differ from those already on the market. This growing demand and the search for new opportunities to give wines a special personality has led to the use of woods within the Quercus genus that are different from those used traditionally (Quercus alba, Quercus petraea, and Quercus robur) and even woods of different genera. Thus, species of the genus Quercus, such as Quercus pyrenaica Willd., Quercus faginea Lam., Quercus humboldtti Bonpl., Quercus oocarpa Liebm., Quercus frainetto Ten, and other genera, such as Robinia pseudoacacia L. (false acacia), Castanea sativa Mill. (chestnut), Prunus avium L. and Prunus cereaus L. (cherry), Fraxinus excelsior L. (European ash), Fraxinus americana L. (American ash), Morus nigra L, and Morus alba L. have been the subject of several studies as possible sources of wood apt for cooperage. The chemical characterization of these woods is essential in order to be able to adapt the cooperage treatment and, thus, obtain wood with oenological qualities suitable for the treatment of wines. This review aims to summarize the different species that have been studied as possible new sources of wood for oenology, defining the extractable composition of each one and their use in wine.