Colour, phenolic, and sensory characteristics of commercial monovarietal white wines produced with maceration

Abstract

White wines produced with skin and seed contact are of great interest in the wine sector. Maceration, whether performed prior to or concurrently with alcoholic fermentation, or even extended beyond its completion, significantly impacts the chromatic, mouthfeel, and aroma characteristics of these wines [1]. However, little information is available in the scientific literature on macerated white wine characteristics. This research is a descriptive study of the physicochemical and sensory parameters of 36 commercial Italian monovarietal white wines (cv. ‘Arneis’, ‘Catarratto’, ‘Erbaluce’, ‘Malvasia Istriana’, ‘Vermentino’) produced with different maceration times: short (≤3 days), medium (4-7 days), long (8-30 days), “orange wine” style (>1 month), and non-macerated controls (2 for each cultivar). The sensory analysis was conducted with an expert panel that generated the terminology and was trained on 20 aroma and 5 mouthfeel descriptors. The formal evaluation was performed using the Rate-All-That-Apply (RATA) technique [2]. Panellists also evaluated turbidity, colour intensity and hue. Instrumental analysis involved basic composition parameters, total polyphenols index (TPI), condensed tannins (methylcellulose precipitation assay, MCP), and colour by CIELab coordinates [3]. Among the investigated aroma descriptors, 15 differentiated the samples. The intensity of Citrus, Pineapple, and White flowers was evaluated higher in control samples compared to macerated ones, regardless of the variety. In contrast, Prune, Dry figs, Clove, and Liqueur were rated higher in macerated wines. White pepper was a characterising note of “orange wines”. Varietal effects were significant for Vanilla, Toasted, and Kerosene descriptors. The effect of maceration time on aroma descriptor intensity was variable, with wines presenting the longest maceration time showing non-linear changes. This pattern was also observed in mouthfeel descriptors, where Astringency increased from non-macerated to long-macerated wines but was lower in “orange wines”. Sensory results were supported by instrumental TPI and MCP. The same tendency was observed in Colour hue, evaluated from straw (0) to brown (10), and a*, b*, and absorbance at 420 nm instrumental parameters, with “orange wines” showing decreasing trend when compared to medium and long macerated samples. These first outcomes will be supplemented with volatile organic compounds analysis by GC-MS and individual phenolic composition by HPLC-UV, providing further insights into the changes occurring with maceration of different lengths.

References

[1] Buican, B. C., Colibaba, L. C., Luchian, C. E., Kallithraka, S., & Cotea, V. V. (2023). Agriculture, 13(9), 1750.

[2] Ares, G., Bruzzone, F., Vidal, L., Cadena, R.S., Giménez, A., Pineau, B., Hunter, D.C., Paisley, A.G., & Jaeger, S.R. (2014). Food Qual. Prefer., 36, 87-95.

[3] De Paolis, C., Zava, A., Paissoni, M.A., Río Segade, S., Motta, G., Škrab, D., Beria D’Argentina, S., Ferrero, L., Giacosa, S., Gerbi, V., & Rolle, L. (2025). Food Chem., 465, 142058.