Impacts of fumaric acid addition at the bottling on Cabernet Sauvignon wine quality. Comparison with tartaric acid addition.

Abstract

Climate change and reduction of inputs are two major challenges for viticulture and oenology. With increasing temperature, wines become less acid and microbiologically less stable (1). Thus, their pHs have to be lowered to avoid higher doses of sulfur dioxide (SO2) for their stabilization, which is against input reduction. Chemical acidification through tartaric acid (TA) addition is one of the most common solutions in the OIV countries members. However, with its high acidifying power, its bacteriostatic properties (2) and its low cost, fumaric acid (FA) could be a good candidate for both chemical acidification and stabilization of low acid wines. Nowadays, the effects of FA addition on red wine quality during the aging are not documented. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the impact of FA addition over the years on the quality of a Cabernet Sauvignon red wine. Here, we present results after six months of wine storage at 15°C.
For this, a sulfite free wine from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes was divided in two batches. One batch was sulfited at 80mg/L (S) and the other one remained non-sulfited (NS). Both batches were treated with FA or TA at two different concentrations (1.25 g/L or 2.5g /L eq. TA). S and NS controls were not acidified. Classical oenological parameters (pH, titratable acidity), color parameters (color intensity, CIELAB), total phenolic compounds (IPT, Folin, total anthocyanins and total tannins), antioxidant capacities (DPPH, CUPRAC) were analyzed after bottling and six months later. FA-acidified wines were compared with controls and TA-acidified wines regarding all parameters. Sensory analyses were also performed on wines.

References

(1) Mira de Orduña, R. Climate Change Associated Effects on Grape and Wine Quality and Production. Food Research International 2010, 43 (7), 1844–1855. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2010.05.001.
(2) Morata, A.; Bañuelos, M. A.; López, C.; Song, C.; Vejarano, R.; Loira, I.; Palomero, F.; Lepe, J. A. S. Use of Fumaric Acid to Control PH and Inhibit Malolactic Fermentation in Wines. Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A 2020, 37 (2), 228–238. https://doi.org/10.1080/19440049.2019.1684574.