IVAS 2022 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 IVAS 9 IVAS 2022 9 Aroma diversity of Amarone commercial wines

Aroma diversity of Amarone commercial wines

Abstract

Amarone is an Italian red wine produced in the Valpolicella area, in north-eastern Italy. Due to its elaboration with withered grapes, Amarone is a rather unique example of dry red wine. However, there is very limited data so far concerning the volatile composition of commercial Amarone wines, which also undergo a cask aging of 2-4 years before release. The present work aims at characterizing the aroma composition of Amarone and to elucidate the relationships between chemical composition and sensory characters.  Two sets of Amarone wines from different vintages 2015 (17 wines) and 2016 (15 wines) were analyzed. The analyses were carried out by means of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and extracted by Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) and Solid Phase Micro Extraction (SPME). In addition, the sampled wines were subjected to a sensory evaluation in the form of sorting task. From both data sets, 70 volatile compounds were successfully identified and quantified, 30 of which were present in concentrations above their odor thresholds in all the samples. Using the odor activity value (OAV), the compounds that potentially contribute to Amarone perceived aroma are b-damascenone, ethyl and isoamyl acetate, ethyl esters (hexanoate, octanoate, butanoate, 3-methybutanoate), 4-ethyl guaiacol, 3-methylbutanoic acid, dimethyl sulfide (DMS), eugenol, massoia lactone, 1,4-cineol, TDN, cis-whisky lactone. The only differences found between the two vintages’ OAV list, could be observed in the presence of dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS) in the vintage 2015; whereas in the 2016 set g-nonalactone and trans-whisky lactone were found. Regarding the compounds that impart the most differences across both vintages, OAV max/min, where 4- ethyl phenol, 4-ethyl guaiacol, 1,8-cineole, 1,4-cineole, dimethyl sulfide (DMS). Results from the sorting task sensory analysis of the 17 wines from vintage 2015 showed three clusters formed. Cluster 1 composed of eight wines and described as “red fruit”, “solvent” and “sweet spices”. Cluster 2 formed by four Amarone was associated mainly with the “animal” and “oak/toasted” attributes. And cluster 3 (five wines) described with the attribute “cooked fruit”. While in the sorting task of vintage 2016 (15 wines) two clusters were formed: cluster A formed by 5 wines described as “cooked fruit” and “solvent”; and cluster B (10 wines) associated with the attributes “sweet spices”, “red fruit” and “oak/toasted”. To our knowledge the present research is the first attempt to identify and classify Amarone della Valpolicella commercial wines in terms of aroma. This study provides a list of compounds that can be characteristic of Amarone wine and that have been consistent across two vintages coming from different wineries . Moreover, from the volatiles analyzed, compounds such as dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and cineoles have been singled out as potential aroma markers of diversity in Amarone wines

DOI:

Publication date: June 24, 2022

Issue: IVAS 2022

Type: Poster

Authors

Samaniego Solis Jessica Anahi¹, Luzzini Giovanni¹, Slaghenaufi Davide¹and Ugliano Maurizio¹

¹University of Verona

Contact the author

Keywords

Amarone, grape withering, chemical characterization, Corvina, Corvinone

Tags

IVAS 2022 | IVES Conference Series

Citation

Related articles…

Identification of cis-2-methyl-4-propyl-1,3-oxathiane as a new volatile sulfur compound (VSC) in wine

Despite their trace concentrations, volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) are an important category of flavour-active compounds that significantly contribute to desirable or undesirable aromas of many foods and beverages. In wines, VSCs in the form of polyfunctional thiols, notably 3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3-SH), 3-sulfanylhexyl acetate (3-SHA), and 4-sulfanyl-4-methyl-pentan-2-one (4-MSP), possess extremely low olfactory thresholds (≈ ng/L) and pleasant “tropical aroma” notes. They have received much attention with respect to their sensory contributions, quantitative occurrences, biogenesis, and thiol management through viticulture and winemaking. However, the fate of these potent volatiles are still not fully understood.

Viticultural parameters and enological performance of six Merlot clones in two contrasting vintages

Vitis vinifera L. and other Vitis have high genetic variations for cultivars or varieties. Many countries carried out strong efforts creating new clones of varieties, mainly focusing on plants free of viruses and other grapevine diseases, but also on different agronomical and enological characteristics of the plants. The aim of this study was to evaluate six clones of Merlot in the traditional viticulture of southeastern Brazil, focusing on distinct characteristics of yield, enological potential of grapes and wine typicality, in order to improve wine quality.

The potential of some native varieties of Argentina for the production of sparkling wines. Effect of lees contact time 

Grapevine varieties from South-America, commonly known as criollas, originated because of the natural crossbreeding of grapevine varieties brought by the Spaniards. The objective of this work was to evaluate the potential of some varieties to produce sparkling wines considering the effect of lees contact time. The following varieties were used: Moscatel Rosado, Criolla Chica, Pedro Gimenez, Blanca Oval, Canelón, and the European variety Chardonnay (control), planted in the ampelographic collection of EEA Mendoza INTA (Argentina). Pilot-scale vinifications were carried out to obtain the base wines, in 20 L glass containers. The second fermentation was performed through the traditional method.

Measurement of grape vine growth for model evaluation

Within a research project for simulating the nitrogen turnover in vineyard soils and the nitrogen uptake by the grape vine, a previously developed plant growth model (Nendel and Kersebaum 2004) had to be evaluated. A dataset was obtained from a monitoring experiment at three vineyard sites with different soil types, conducted in the years 2003 and 2004.

Aroma characterization of aged cognac spirits: contribution of volatile terpenoid compounds

Cognac spirit aromas result from the presence of a wide variety of volatile odorous compounds associated with the modalities of distilled spirit elaboration and during aging. Indeed, these odorous compounds play an essential role in the finesse and complexity of the aged Cognac.