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Wine Chemistry: The Key behind Wine Quality—2nd Edition

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2022) | Viewed by 24440

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Dr. Encarna Gómez-Plaza

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Guest Editor

Department of Food Science and Technology, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain
Interests: wine; fining agents; phenolic compounds; volatile compounds; organoleptic properties; tannins; wine stabilization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Rocio Gil-Muñoz

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Guest Editor

Instituto Murciano de Investigación y Desarrollo Mediomabiental, La Alberca, Spain
Interests: wine; grape; phenolic compounds; volatile compounds; ochratoxin A; biogenic amines
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Dear Colleagues,

Wine is a surprisingly complex chemical mixture. It is 97% water and ethanol, but each bottle also contains thousands of different molecules, ranging from acids and sugars to phenolic compounds and aroma compounds.

Wine chemistry is an important tool that enables enologists to ensure quality and consistency. The wine chemistry is based on grape biochemistry, the chemistry of the transformations mediated by yeast and bacterial metabolism during winemaking, the changes occurring during maturation, aging and post- bottling, and even the changes in our glass when pouring the wine. Wine chemistry is also the key to guarantee the traceability of wine production, to preserve quality and knowledge of the whole wine-making process from vineyard to bottle

Nowadays, the existence of instrumental techniques able to generate multiple or combined information on the wine matrix, the metabolomic approach, together with chemometrics, can be strong allies of the study of wine chemistry. Also, in recent years, emphasis has been placed on fast and nondestructive instrumental methods based on spectral measurements using molecular spectroscopy such as IR and fluorescence for fingerprinting of wines.

The first edition was closed successfully, the second edition is also dedicated to the most recent research aimed at understanding how viticultural and enological practices influence grape and wine chemistry, how wine chemistry can help to fingerprint wines and follow their traceability and, going even further, how this chemical composition can be linked to sensory properties.

Dr. Encarna Gómez-Plaza
Dr. Rocio Gil-Muñoz
Guest Editors

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Keywords

aroma
color
wine aging
oxygen management
phenolic compounds
polysaccharides
nitrogen compounds
metabolomic
instrumental analysis

Related Special Issue

Wine Chemistry: The Key behind Wine Quality-3rd Edition in Molecules (4 articles)

Published Papers (10 papers)

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19 pages, 2246 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wine Closure Performance of Three Common Closure Types: Chemical and Sensory Impact on a Sauvignon Blanc Wine

by Annegret Cantu, Jillian Guernsey, Mauri Anderson, Shelley Blozis, Rebecca Bleibaum, Danielle Cyrot and Andrew L. Waterhouse

Molecules 2022, 27(18), 5881; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27185881 - 10 Sep 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1678

Abstract

A Napa Valley Sauvignon blanc wine was bottled with 200 each of a natural cork, a screw cap, and a synthetic cork. As browning is an index for wine oxidation, we assessed the brown color of each bottle with a spectrophotometer over 30 months. A random-effects regression model for longitudinal data on all bottles and closure groups found a browning growth trajectory for each closure group. Changes in the wine’s browning behavior at 18 months and 30 months showed that the browning of the wine bottles appeared to slow down later in the storage period, especially for natural corks. The between-bottle variation was the highest for the natural cork. At 30 months, we separated the bottles by the extent of browning and samples were pulled from the high, mid, and low levels of browning levels for each closure. The degree of browning is inversely correlated with free SO₂ levels ranging from 5 to 12 mg/L. However, a Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA™) sensory panel could not detect any difference in their aroma and flavor profile between closure types regardless of browning level. Even low levels of free SO₂ retain protection against strong oxidation aromas, and visual browning detected by spectrophotometer seemed to precede oxidative aroma and flavor changes of the aging Sauvignon blanc. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wine Chemistry: The Key behind Wine Quality—2nd Edition)

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15 pages, 1829 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Use of Microwave Maceration in Red Winemaking: Effect on Fermentation and Chemical Composition of Red Wines

by Raquel Muñoz García, Rodrigo Oliver-Simancas, María Arévalo Villena, Leticia Martínez-Lapuente, Belén Ayestarán, Lourdes Marchante-Cuevas, María Consuelo Díaz-Maroto and María Soledad Pérez-Coello

Molecules 2022, 27(9), 3018; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27093018 - 07 May 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1842

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of microwave treatment of crushed grapes on the yeast population of the must and on the development of alcoholic fermentation, as well as on the extraction of different compounds from the grapes such as polysaccharides and amino acids that can affect the organoleptic quality and stability of the wine. This study demonstrated for the first time the effect of the microwave treatment of grapes on native yeast species and their diversity, producing an increase in fermentation kinetics and a decrease in the lag phase. The microwave treatment produced a positive effect on the extraction of amino acids and polysaccharides from the grapes, resulting in significantly higher amounts of the main amino acids of the must and some major volatile compounds in the treated samples. The polysaccharides most affected by the microwave treatment were the PRAGs, the main polysaccharides liberated from grapes during the maceration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wine Chemistry: The Key behind Wine Quality—2nd Edition)

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16 pages, 1031 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Methyl Jasmonate and Nano-Methyl Jasmonate Treatments on Monastrell Wine Volatile Composition

by María José Giménez-Bañón, Juan Daniel Moreno-Olivares, Diego Fernando Paladines-Quezada, Juan Antonio Bleda-Sánchez, José Ignacio Fernández-Fernández, Belén Parra-Torrejón, José Manuel Delgado-López and Rocío Gil-Muñoz

Molecules 2022, 27(9), 2878; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27092878 - 30 Apr 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1669

Abstract

The application of methyl jasmonate (MeJ) as an elicitor to enhance secondary metabolites in grapes and wines has been studied, but there is little information about its use in conjunction with nanotechnology and no information about its effects on wine volatile compounds. This led us to study the impact of nanoparticles doped with MeJ (Nano-MeJ, 1mM MeJ) on the volatile composition of Monastrell wines over three seasons, compared with the application of MeJ in a conventional way (10 mM MeJ). The results showed how both treatments enhanced fruity esters in wines regardless of the vintage year, although the increase was more evident when grapes were less ripe. These treatments also achieved these results in 2019 in the cases of 1-propanol, ß-phenyl-ethanol, and methionol, in 2020 in the cases of hexanol and methionol, and in 2021, but only in the case of hexanol. On the other hand, MeJ treatment also increased the terpene fraction, whereas Nano-MeJ, at the applied concentration, did not increase it in any of the seasons. In summary, although not all families of volatile compounds were increased by Nano-MeJ, the Nano-MeJ treatment generally increased the volatile composition to an extent similar to that obtained with MeJ used in a conventional way, but at a 10 times lower dose. Therefore, the use of nanotechnology could be a good option for improving the quality of wines from an aromatic point of view, while reducing the necessary dosage of agrochemicals, in line with more sustainable agricultural practices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wine Chemistry: The Key behind Wine Quality—2nd Edition)

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16 pages, 2254 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of Cabernet Sauvignon Wines by Untargeted HS-SPME GC-QTOF-MS

by Alejandra Chávez-Márquez, Alfonso A. Gardea, Humberto González-Rios and Luz Vazquez-Moreno

Molecules 2022, 27(5), 1726; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27051726 - 07 Mar 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1974

Abstract

Untargeted metabolomics approaches are emerging as powerful tools for the quality evaluation and authenticity of food and beverages and have been applied to wine science. However, most fail to report the method validation, quality assurance and/or quality control applied, as well as the assessment through the metabolomics-methodology pipeline. Knowledge of Mexican viticulture, enology and wine science remains scarce, thus untargeted metabolomics approaches arise as a suitable tool. The aim of this study is to validate an untargeted HS-SPME-GC-qTOF/MS method, with attention to data processing to characterize Cabernet Sauvignon wines from two vineyards and two vintages. Validation parameters for targeted methods are applied in conjunction with the development of a recursive analysis of data. The combination of some parameters for targeted studies (repeatability and reproducibility < 20% RSD; linearity > 0.99; retention-time reproducibility < 0.5% RSD; match-identification factor < 2.0% RSD) with recursive analysis of data (101 entities detected) warrants that both chromatographic and spectrometry-processing data were under control and provided high-quality results, which in turn differentiate wine samples according to site and vintage. It also shows potential biomarkers that can be identified. This is a step forward in the pursuit of Mexican wine characterization that could be used as an authentication tool. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wine Chemistry: The Key behind Wine Quality—2nd Edition)

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19 pages, 2389 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Elucidating the Color of Rosé Wines Using Polyphenol-Targeted Metabolomics

by Cécile Leborgne, Marine Lambert, Marie-Agnès Ducasse, Emmanuelle Meudec, Arnaud Verbaere, Nicolas Sommerer, Jean-Claude Boulet, Gilles Masson, Jean-Roch Mouret and Véronique Cheynier

Molecules 2022, 27(4), 1359; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27041359 - 17 Feb 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2499

Abstract

The color of rosé wines is extremely diverse and a key element in their marketing. It is due to the presence of anthocyanins and of additional pigments derived from them and from other wine constituents. To explore the pigment composition and determine its links with color, 268 commercial rosé wines were analysed. The concentration of 125 polyphenolic compounds was determined by a targeted metabolomics approach using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQ-MS) analysis in the Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) mode and the color characterised by spectrophotometry and CieLab parameters. Chemometrics analysis of the composition and color data showed that although color intensity is primarily determined by polyphenol extraction (especially anthocyanins and flavanols) from the grapes, different color styles correspond to different pigment compositions. The salmon shade of light rosé wines is mostly due to pyranoanthocyanin pigments, resulting from reactions of anthocyanins with phenolic acids and pyruvic acid, a yeast metabolite. Redness of intermediate color wines is related to anthocyanins and carboxypoyranoanthocyanins and that of dark rosé wines to products of anthocyanin reactions with flavanols while yellowness of these wines is associated to oxidation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wine Chemistry: The Key behind Wine Quality—2nd Edition)

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25 pages, 1644 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analytical and Chemometric Characterization of Fino and Amontillado Sherries during Aging in Criaderas y Solera System

by Manuel J. Valcárcel-Muñoz, María Guerrero-Chanivet, María del Carmen Rodríguez-Dodero, María de Valme García-Moreno and Dominico A. Guillén-Sánchez

Molecules 2022, 27(2), 365; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27020365 - 07 Jan 2022

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2678

Abstract

Fino and Amontillado are Sherry wines, produced in Marco de Jerez area (southern Spain), and aged in Criaderas y Solera system. Fino Sherry wine follows a biological aging process, under a veil of flor yeasts, while Amontillado Sherry wine shares the same biological aging firstly, followed by oxidative aging, which gives them special features. Organic acids, esters, higher alcohols, phenolic compounds and total dry extract of Sherries evolve during aging due to evaporation processes, physical-chemical reactions, wood contributions and microbiological activity. During aging, Sherry wines improve their organoleptic profile, as could be proved in the tasting sessions. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and Factor Analysis with factor extraction using Principal Components of Sherry wines studied were carried out and natural groupings of the wines according to the type of aging and their age were observed. A strong correlation between the parameters analyzed and the aging of each wine has been seen in the Multiple Linear Regression studies, establishing two different models, one for each type of Sherry wine, that, with only four of all the variables studied estimated the wine age with more than 99% of confidence. This constitutes a useful tool to control the age of these Sherry wines in the winery. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wine Chemistry: The Key behind Wine Quality—2nd Edition)

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15 pages, 3371 KiB

Open AccessArticle

DCMC as a Promising Alternative to Bentonite in White Wine Stabilization. Impact on Protein Stability and Wine Aromatic Fraction

by Francesco Saracino, João Brinco, Diana Gago, Marco Gomes da Silva, Ricardo Boavida Ferreira, Jorge Ricardo-da-Silva, Ricardo Chagas and Luísa Maria Ferreira

Molecules 2021, 26(20), 6188; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26206188 - 14 Oct 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2602

Abstract

Protein haze in white wine is one of the most common non-microbial defects of commercial wines, with bentonite being the main solution utilized by the winemaking industry to tackle this problem. Bentonite presents some serious disadvantages, and several alternatives have been proposed. Here, an alternative based on a new cellulose derivative (dicarboxymethyl cellulose, DCMC) is proposed. To determine the efficiency of DCMC as a bentonite alternative, three monovarietal wines were characterized, and their protein instability and content determined by a heat stability test (HST) and the Bradford method, respectively. The wines were treated with DCMC to achieve stable wines, as shown by the HST, and the efficacy of the treatments was assessed by determining, before and after treatment, the wine content in protein, phenolic compounds, sodium, calcium, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as well as the wine pH. DCMC applied at dosages such as those commonly employed for bentonite was able to reduce the protein content in all tested wines and to stabilize all but the Moscatel de Setúbal varietal wine. In general, DCMC was shown to induce lower changes in the wine pH and phenolic content than bentonite, reducing the wine calcium content. Regarding which VOCs are concerned, DCMC produced a general impact similar to that of bentonite, with differences depending on wine variety. The results obtained suggest that DCMC can be a sustainable alternative to bentonite in protein white wine stabilization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wine Chemistry: The Key behind Wine Quality—2nd Edition)

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15 pages, 301 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Sonication Treatment and Maceration Time in the Extraction of Polysaccharide Compounds during Red Wine Vinification

by Leticia Martínez-Lapuente, Zenaida Guadalupe, Paula Pérez-Porras, Ana Belén Bautista-Ortín, Encarna Gómez-Plaza and Belén Ayestarán

Molecules 2021, 26(15), 4452; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26154452 - 23 Jul 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1919

Abstract

The application of high-power ultrasounds (US) at 28 kHz to the crushed grapes and the use of different pomace contact times caused changes in the content and composition of monosaccharides and polysaccharides in the musts and wines. These differences were maintained from the moment of pressing (end of maceration) until the end of the alcoholic fermentation. The US increased the content of monosaccharides and polysaccharides in the musts by facilitating their extraction from the solid parts during maceration. The application of medium maceration time (3 days) to sonicated grapes led to an extraction of polysaccharides rich in arabinose and galactose, rhamnogalacturonan type II (RG-II) and mannoproteins (MP), similar to that observed in the control wines made with an extended maceration of 7 days (968.21 vs. 1029.45; 895.04 vs. 1700.50; 356.81 vs. 343.95, respectively). This fact was attributed to a higher extraction in the must during the sonication process and to an important release of pectic polysaccharides during the pressing of the sonicated pomace, which is reported here for the first time. Therefore, the US technology could be useful for increasing the polysaccharide content in the wines or for reducing the maceration time needed to achieve certain levels of wine polysaccharides. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wine Chemistry: The Key behind Wine Quality—2nd Edition)

15 pages, 1357 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modification of Sensory Expression of 3-Isobutyl-2-methoxypyrazine in Wines through Blending Technique

by Mengqi Ling, Yu Zhou, Yibin Lan, Chifang Cheng, Guangfeng Wu, Changqing Duan and Ying Shi

Molecules 2021, 26(11), 3172; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26113172 - 26 May 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2478

Abstract

Sensory interactions exist between 3-alkyl-2-methoxypyrazines and various volatiles in wines. In this study, the binary blending of Cabernet Franc wines containing high levels of MPs and three monovarietal red wines with two proportions was conducted after fermentation. Volatiles were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and wines were evaluated by quantitative descriptive analysis at three-month intervals during six-month bottle aging. Results showed blending wines exhibited lower intensity of ‘green pepper’, especially CFC samples blended by Cabernet Sauvignon wines with an even higher concentration of 3-isobutyl-2-methoxypyrazine (IBMP). Based on Pearson correlation analysis, acetates could promote the expression of ‘tropical fruity’ and suppress ‘green pepper’ caused by IBMP. Positive correlation was observed among ‘green pepper’, ‘herbaceous’, and ‘berry’. The concentration balance between IBMP and other volatiles associated with ‘green pepper’ and fruity notes was further investigated through sensory experiments in aroma reconstitution. Higher pleasant fruity perception was obtained with the concentration proportion of 1-hexanol (1000 μg/L), isoamyl acetate (550 μg/L), ethyl hexanoate (400 μg/L), and ethyl octanoate (900 μg/L) as in CFC samples. Blending wines with proper concentration of those volatiles would be efficient to weaken ‘green pepper’ and highlight fruity notes, which provided scientific theory on sensory modification of IBMP through blending technique. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wine Chemistry: The Key behind Wine Quality—2nd Edition)

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19 pages, 3522 KiB

Open AccessReview

Advances in White Wine Protein Stabilization Technologies

by Daniela Silva-Barbieri, Fernando N. Salazar, Francisco López, Natalia Brossard, Néstor Escalona and José R. Pérez-Correa

Molecules 2022, 27(4), 1251; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27041251 - 13 Feb 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3162

Abstract

The unstable proteins in white wine cause haze in bottles of white wine, degrading its quality. Thaumatins and chitinases are grape pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins that remain stable during vinification but can precipitate at high temperatures after bottling. The white wine protein stabilization process can prevent haze by removing these unstable proteins. Traditionally, bentonite is used to remove these proteins; however, it is labor-intensive, generates wine losses, affects wine quality, and harms the environment. More efficient protein stabilization technologies should be based on a better understanding of the main factors and mechanisms underlying protein precipitation. This review focuses on recent developments regarding the instability and removal of white wine proteins, which could be helpful to design more economical and environmentally friendly protein stabilization methods that better preserve the products´ quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wine Chemistry: The Key behind Wine Quality—2nd Edition)

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