terclim by ICS banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 EFFECT OF WHOLE BUNCH VINIFICATION ON THE ABUNDANCE OF A SWEETENING COMPOUND

EFFECT OF WHOLE BUNCH VINIFICATION ON THE ABUNDANCE OF A SWEETENING COMPOUND

Abstract

In classic red wine-making process, grapes are usually destemmed between harvest and the filling of the vat. However, some winemakers choose to let all or a part of the stems in contact with the juice during vatting, this is called whole bunch vinification. For instance, this practice is traditionally used in some French wine regions, notably in Burgundy, Beaujolais and the Rhone Valley. The choice to keep this part of the grape is likely to affect the sensory properties of wine, as its gustatory perception1,2. Previous studies have focused on the chemical composition of stems and have shown that astilbin, a sweet molecule, is a one of the major phenolic compounds3,4. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of whole bunch vinification on the concentration of astilbin in wine.

Several experiments have been carried out in various French wine regions, in Burgundy, Beaujolais and Bordeaux over three vintages allowing to compare different grape varieties namely Pinot Noir, Gamay and Merlot. The addition of stems is carried out while filling the vats, according to different proportions ranging from 15 to 50 % of the total volume of introduced grape. For each experiment, the modality with addition of stems is compared with a vat of destemmed grapes coming from the same plot. Samples were taken throughout the wine-making process to be analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Exactive, Orbitrap analyzer).

The comparison of astilbin content in the two modalities showed that the addition of stems during vatting significantly increased astilbin concentration. Furthermore, this increase varies according to the grape variety. Indeed, the ratio between the astilbin concentration of wines from the two modalities is higher in Merlot than in Pinot Noir and Gamay. The localization of astilbin in the different components of Merlot and Pinot Noir bunch was also investigated in order to better understand this difference.

This study provides new insights on the contribution of stems to the concentration of a sweet compound, astilbin. Besides, these results bring new tools to better understand the practice of whole bunch vinification from a chemical perspective.

 

1. Casassa, L.F., Dermutz, N.P., Mawdsley, P.F., Thompson, M., Catania, A.A., Collins, T.S., Ashmore, P.L., du Fresne, F., Gasic, G., Peterson, J.C.D., 2021. Whole cluster and dried stem additions’ effects on chemical and sensory properties of Pinot noir wines over two vintages. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture 72, 21–35.
2. Pascual, O., González-Royo, E., Gil, M., Gómez-Alonso, S., García-Romero, E., Canals, J.M., Hermosín-Gutíerrez, I., Zamora, F., 2016. Influence of Grape Seeds and Stems on Wine Composition and Astringency. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 64, 6555–6566.
3. Fayad, S., Le Scanff, M., Waffo-Teguo, P., Marchal, A., 2021. Understanding sweetness of dry wines: First evidence of astilbin isomers in red wines and quantitation in a one-century range of vintages. Food Chemistry 352, 129293.
4. Souquet, J.-M., Labarbe, B., Le Guernevé, C., Cheynier, V., Moutounet, M., 2000. Phenolic Composition of Grape Stems. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 48, 1076–1080.

DOI:

Publication date: February 9, 2024

Issue: OENO Macrowine 2023

Type: Article

Authors

Marie Le Scanff 1,2, Axel Marchal 1,2

1. Univ. Bordeaux, Bordeaux INP, INRAE, OENO, UMR 1366, ISVV, F-33140 Villenave d’Ornon, France
2. Bordeaux Sciences Agro, Bordeaux INP, INRAE, OENO, UMR 1366, ISVV, F-33170 Gradignan, France

Contact the author*

Keywords

Stem, Whole bunch vinification, Sweetness, Astilbin

Tags

IVES Conference Series | oeno macrowine 2023 | oeno-macrowine

Citation

Related articles…

ASSESSING THE ROLE OF 27 KNOWN BITTER COMPOUNDS IN COMMERCIAL WHITE WINES COMBINING LC-MS QUANTIFICATION AND SENSORY ANALYSIS

The balance between the different flavours of a wine largely determines its perception and appreciation by the consumers. In white wines, sweetness and sourness are usually the two poles balancing the taste properties. The bitter flavour, on the other hand, is frequently associated with a loss of equilibrium and all white wines (dry and sweet, young and aged) are affected.
Several bitter compounds are already well-described in wines.

Read More

TANNINS AND ANTHOCYANINS KINETICS OF EXTRACTION FROM ARINARNOA, MARSELAN AND TANNAT UNDER DIFFERENT WINEMAKING TECHNIQUES

Marselan wines have an unusual high proportion of seed derived tannins from grapes having high proportions of skins, which are rich in tannins. But the causes behind this characteristic have not yet been identified. In vintage 2023 wines were made at experimental scale (9 kg by experimental unit) from Arinarnoa, Marselan and Tannat Vitis vinifera grape cultivars by traditional maceration, and by techniques aimed to increase the wine content in skin derived tannin: addition of extraction enzymes, addition at vatting of grape-skin enological tannins, or by extended maceration, known to increase the seed derived tannin contents of wines.

Read More

AGEING BOTTLED WINES SUBMERGED IN SEA: DOES IT IMPACT WINE COMPOSITION?

Aging wines is a common practice in oenology, which in recent years has undergone some innovations. Currently, we are witnessing the practice of aging bottled wine in depth, immersed in the sea or in reservoirs, for variable periods of time, but so far, little is known about the impact of aging in depth on the physicochemical properties, of wines.
The objective of this work was to evaluate the impact of this practice on the physicochemical characteristics, in particular to verify changes in the volatile composition of wines bottled and subsequently immersed in depth. A red wine from Cabernet Sauvignon was bottled and a set of bottles were submerged from July to February (2020), another set of bottles were submerged from February to September (2020) and another set was kept in the wine cellar. Bottles from each set were analyzed (in triplicate) in July 2021.

Read More

PHOTOCHEMICAL DEGRADATION OF TRYPTOPHAN IN MODEL WINE: IMPACT OF HEAVY METALS AND OXYGEN ON 2-AMINOACETOPHENONE FORMATION

The wine industry worldwide faces more and more challenges due to climate change, such as increased dryness in some areas, water stress, sunburn and early harvesting during hot summer temperatures¹. One of the resulting problems for the wine quality might be a higher prevalence of the untypical aging off-flavor (ATA)². A substance, which Rapp and Versini made responsible for ATA, is the 2-aminoace-tophenone (2-AAP)³. 2-AAP in wine causes a naphthalene, wet towels, wet wool, acacia flower or just a soapy note⁴.

Read More

VALORIZATION OF GRAPE WINE POMACE USING PULSED ELECTRIC FIELDS (PEF) AND SUPERCRITICAL CO₂ (SC CO₂) EXTRACTION

Wine grape pomace quantitatively and qualitatively represents the most important fraction of wine waste. Namely, this by-product makes ~ 20% of the total mass of vinified grapes, and it is characterized with high concentrations of polyphenolic antioxidants, as well as grape seed oil. Hence, valorization of wine pomace, as an alternative to traditionally employed disposal, has drown considerable interest in recent years. Earlier studies were mostly focused on the extraction of phenolics, while mechanisms enhancing the extraction of lipid fraction from grape pomace, as well as their impact on the grape seed oil quality are far less investigated.

Read More