Macrowine 2021
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Wood from barrique: release of phenolic compounds and permeability to oxygen

Wood from barrique: release of phenolic compounds and permeability to oxygen

Abstract

Chemical and sensory changes occurring in red wine during ageing in oak barrique are due to the slow and gradual entrance of oxygen along with a release of ellagic tannin from the wood. Though oxygen can enter the cask through the bunghole, it is not clear the role of permeation through the wood staves as well as the amount of oxygen entering by permeation. The distribution of the released ellagic tannins in the wine ageing is also unknown. The oxygen passing through the bunghole may have a different wine ageing effect compared to the oxygen permeating through the wooden staves owing to the uneven ellagic tannin concentration throughout the wine. This tannin acts as essential oxidation mediator since it prevents the straight oxidation of flavan-3-ol units and anthocyanins in wine ageing. On these bases, the release of phenols was monitored in a model solution where oak wood was soaked. The solution was stored in the dark at 15°C for two weeks and then it was recovered. Samples were drawn at different distance and depth from the wood. The release of phenols was evaluated for further two weeks to mimic the use of the barrique. Moreover, the permeability of oak wood to oxygen was investigated in either dry or wet oak wood. Results showed that higher concentration of tannin occurred near to the wood (vertically placed staves) and close to the bottom of the container, whereas higher concentration of phenols was still revealed following to the second soaking of the staves in the deepest layer of the solution but farther away from the wood. According to the experimental data, the release of tannins followed a gradient towards the bottom of the container probably due to the higher density of the solution. The oxygen transmission rate through dry oak wood approached 5 g m-2 day-1 and it decreased 5-6 times when wet wood was considered. The oxygen inside the barrique could be estimated to about 15 g L-1 year-1 considering the barrique full of wine. Such values appeared by far higher than the values suggested in the updated literature and showed the essential role exerted by the wood tannin in protecting the phenols of red wine from oxidation.

Publication date: May 17, 2024

Issue: Macrowine 2016

Type: Poster

Authors

Antonio Tirelli*, Daniela Fracassetti, Luciano Piergiovanni, Stefano Farris

*DeFENS-Università degli Studi di Milano

Contact the author

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Macrowine | Macrowine 2016

Citation

Related articles…

The use of cation exchange resins for wine acidity adjustment: Optimization of the process and the effects on tartrate formation and oxidative stability

Acidity adjustments are key to microbial control, sensory quality and wine longevity. Acidification with cation exchange resins -in acid cycle- offers the possibility to reduce the pH by exchanging wine cations, such as potassium (K+), for hydrogen ions (H+). During the exchange process, the removal of potassium and calcium ions contributes to limiting the formation of tartrate salts, thus offering an alternative solution to conventional methods for tartrate stability. Moreover, the reduction of wine pH and the removal of metals catalyzers (e.g. iron) could positively impact the wine’s oxidative stability. Therefore, the aims of this work were (a) to optimize the ion exchange process by testing different volumes and concentrations of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) during the acid cycle, (b) evaluate the effects of the ion exchange process on the formation of tartrate salts, and (c) analyze the oxidative stability of the treated wines.

Merging fast sensory profiling with non-targeted GC-MS analysis for multifactorial experimental wine making

Wine aroma is influenced by several viticultural and oenological factors. In this study we used experimental wine making in a full factorial design to determine the impact of grapevine age, must turbidity, and yeast strain on the aroma of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Riesling wines. A recently developed, non-targeted SPME-GC-MS fingerprinting approach for wine volatiles was used. This approach includes the segmentation and mathematical transformation of chromatograms in combination with Parallel Factor Analysis (PARAFAC) and subsequent deconvolution of important chromatogram segments.

The impact of different yeasts and harvest time on the wine quality of Beihong and Beimei (<I>V. vinifera x V. amurensis</I>)

Beihong and Beimei are two wine cultivars from ‘Muscat Hamberg’ (V. vinifera L.) and wild V. amurensis Rupr., which were released in China in 2008. Here,two enology practices were reported. Firstly, the impact of different yeasts including D254, GRE, K1, D21 and BDX on dry wine quality of Beihong and Beimei was investigated. For Beihong, among wines fermented by all yeasts, residual sugar content was the lowest, total anthocyanin and resveratrol contents were the highest in the wine by D254. However, the wine by D254 had lower titrable acid than those by the other yeasts except BDX.

Correlations between N,S,O-heterocycle levels and age of Champagne base wines

Champagne regulation allows winegrowers to stock small amounts of still wines in order to compensate vintages’ quality shifts mainly due to climate variations. According to their technical requirements and house style some Champagne producers (commonly named “Champagne houses”) use these stored wines in the blend in order to introduce an element of complexity. These wines possess the particularity of being aged on fine lees in thermo-regulated stainless steel tanks. The Champagne house of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin has several wines stored this way.

Effect of supplementation with inactive yeast during alcoholic fermentation in base wine for sparkling

INTRODUCTION: Foam stability of sparkling wines is significantly favored by the presence of surface active agents such as proteins and polysaccharides [1]. For that reason, the renowned sparkling wines are aged after the second fermentation in contact with the lees for several months (even years). Thereby wines are enriched in these macromolecules due to yeast autolysis. Since this practice is slow and costly, winemakers are seeking for alternative procedures to increase their concentration in base wines. In that sense, the supplementation with inactive yeast during alcoholic fermentation has been proposed [2]. The aim of this study was to determine whether this new strategy is really useful for enriching base wines in macromolecules and for improving foam properties of the base wines.