Wine aroma is a crucial quality criterion. A multitude of volatile compounds have been identified and correlated to the aroma attributes perceived in wine.
There is a high demand in the wine industry for analytical methods able to provide useful information to support the decision-making process in the vineyard and in the winery. Ideally these methods should be rapid (e.g.
3-Sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3SH) is a key impact odorant of white wines such as Sauvignon Blanc. In particular, the varietal characters of Sauvignon Blanc, especially from Marlborough NZ, are strongly influenced by the concentrations of 3SH
Among the main plant secondary metabolites, glycosides have a key-role in wine chemistry. Glycosides are non-volatile complex composed of a non-sugar component (aglycone) bound to one or more carbohydrates.
Despite its relevance for wine quality and stability, red wine colloids have not still been
sufficiently investigated, an occurrence due to the lack of suitable analytical techniques to study them as they are present in wine.
The color of rosés wines is extremely diverse and a key element in their marketing. It is due to the presence of red anthocyanins extracted from grape skins and pigments formed from them and other wine constituents during wine-making.
Dehydrodicatechins have recently received attention as oxidation markers especially in grapes and wine. Their analysis mainly uses LC-MS/MS which is able to differentiate them from their natural isomers (dimeric procyanidins), based on specific fragments
Depending on the variety, grapes contain several chemical classes of aromatic compounds (i.e., terpenols, norisoprenoids, benzenoids) mainly stored as glycosides in berry skin.
The contribution of sulfur compounds to wine aroma has been studied for several years, as their role can be either positive, contributing to the fruitiness and typicity of some white wines like Sauvignon blanc, or negative when related to off-flavours caused by H2S.