H-NMR metabolic profiling of wines from three cultivars, three soil types and two contrasting vintages

Differences in wine flavour proceed primarily from grape quality. Environmental factors determined by the climate, soil and training systems modify many grape and wine quality traits. Metabolic profiling based on proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectra has been proved to be useful to study multifactorial effects of the vine environment on intricate grape quality traits. The capacity of this method to discriminate the environmental effects on wine has to be demonstrated. 1H-NMR spectra were made from wines produced with grapes of three cultivars and three soil types in two vintages. Principal component analysis applied on the NMR spectra data were not always able to separate satisfactorily wines from the 3 soil types. Conversely, partial least square analysis separated clearly the 3 soil types independently of the vintage and cultivar. By comparing the NMR signals that contribute to the 2 first axes of the PCA and PLS analyses, a significant soil effect on NMR signals in wines is reported. This profiling method will contribute to the qualification of the wine, in relation to its origin and the winemaking process strategy.