Characterization of the Oxygen Transmission Rate of New-Ancient Natural Materials for Wine Maturation Containers

Enhancing wine shelf-life: Insights into factors influencing oxidation and preservation

Background

Understanding the shelf life of wine is complex and involves factors such as aroma preservation, flavour development and market acceptance. Ageing potential, crucial for flavour complexity, exposes wine to oxidation, influenced by oxygen, temperature and light, with an impact on quality. This type of oxidation is non-enzymatic, is catalyzed by metal ions and alters colour and flavour.

Scope and approach

This review examines the dynamics of wine preservation, focusing on oxidation and the impact of closure. Corks allow controlled oxygen transfer, while screw caps offer a nearly hermetic closure. Oxygen transfer rates vary, with natural corks having fluctuating rates and synthetic corks causing over-exposure. Additives such as sulphur dioxide and alternative substitute such as lysozyme and ascorbic acid are examined for their role in preventing oxidation and ensuring microbiological stability.

Key findings and conclusions

Closure choice significantly affects wine preservation. Balancing oxygen exposure, temperature, and light is vital. Effective management, including the strategic use of preservatives and additives, is crucial for maintaining quality and extending shelf life. This review underscores the delicate equilibrium necessary for preserving wine quality from production to consumption.

Making wine in Pañul’s craft pottery vessels: a first approach in the study of the dynamic of alcoholic fermentation and wine volatile composition

Traditional winemaking in amphora-like clay vessels is one of the oldest known methods of wine production. Currently, some wine producers have readopted traditional winemaking methods to generate unique attributes that differentiate their products raising regional wine typicity. The aim of this research was to study the dynamic of alcoholic fermentation and volatile composition of ‘Carignan’ wines fermented into Pañul’s clay vessels and comparing them with the wines vinified into stainless-steel tanks. Density curve of the musts contained in the Pañul’s pottery vessels followed a similar trend than in the samples contained in the stainless-steel tanks. The temperatures of the must and the cap during alcoholic fermentation were lower in the Pañul’s pottery vessels than in the stainless-steel tanks in most of the evaluated days. Thus, clay vessels may provide temperature-regulating properties beneficing wine fermentation compared to stainless-steel tanks. Pañul’s clay vessels produced wines with higher terpenes, β-ionone and 2-phenylethyl alcohol content, and lower values of some individual higher alcohols, isoamyl acetate, lactones, and pH than the stainless-steel tanks. Therefore, the results suggest that Pañul’s pottery vessels favored increasing the terpene alcohols and other volatile compounds concentrations, in addition to decreasing certain higher alcohols and acetate esters contents such as benzyl alcohol and iso-amyl acetate. These outcomes may be of interest to ceramic producers and wine producers since they open a range of economic opportunities to diversify their products.

Kinetic modeling of a Sangiovese wine’s chemical and physical parameters during one-year aging in different tank materials

The present study aimed to model the kinetics of factors involved in wine aging to highlight the effects caused by different tank materials. It is known that materials affect wine composition through releasing of tannins, elementals and allowing different level of oxygen permeation. To monitor how the composition of a red wine was influenced by the contact with different kind of material, a Sangiovese red wine from the 2018 harvest was aged for one-year simultaneously in six different 5 hL tank materials including stainless steel, epoxy-coated concrete, uncoated concrete, raw earthenware, new and used oak wood. The registered differences were described through kinetic modeling of some wine’s chemical and physical parameters. In particular, the one-year evolution of the dissolved oxygen, redox potential and phenolic composition of the wines showed significant differences according to the tank material. Like the oak barrels, the raw earthenware amphorae and uncoated concrete tanks enhanced the polymerisation of the phenolic fraction of the wine. Instead, the stainless steel and epoxy-coated concrete proved to be the most chemically inert materials as they showed the least variability of redox potential and the lowest degree of color evolution.

Chemical and Physical Implications of the Use of Alternative Vessels to Oak Barrels during the Production of White Wines

Recently, the use of alternative vessels to oak barrels during winemaking has become increasingly popular, but little is known about their impact on the chemical composition of the resulting wines. To address this issue, a Sauvignon Blanc wine was elaborated from the same grape juice by using cylindrical stainless-steel tanks, oval-shaped concrete vessels, oval-shaped polyethylene vessels, and clay jars in triplicate. Each vessel was used for alcoholic fermentation and the aging of wines over its own lees. Wines elaborated in concrete vessels showed the highest pH and the lowest titratable acidity, most likely related to the observed release of inorganic compounds from the concrete walls. Little effect of the vessels was seen on the wine color and phenolic composition. Wines elaborated in clay jars showed the highest turbidity and the highest content of soluble polysaccharides, while those made using cylindrical stainless-steel tanks showed the highest content of volatile compounds. Despite the observed differences, all of the vessels tested seem suitable for white wine production since every wine showed chemical features that corresponded with the quality standards of Sauvignon Blanc wines.