Effect of oak barrel type on the volatile composition of wine: Storage time optimization

Abstract

When it comes to deciding about the length of time for ageing wine in barrels it is necessary to take into account several factors such as wine composition and characteristics of barrels. Adapting wood to wine is not an easy matter. Ageing duration is highly variable depending on a wine's origin, type and quality. The aim of this study is to investigate the behaviour of new barrels and once-used barrels depending on the ageing period of wine. From the results obtained it can be seen that for ageing wine during a short period (6-9 months), there was quite a big difference in the concentration of most of the oak wood compounds between wine aged in new barrels and wine aged in once-used barrels. However, due to the chemical or biochemical transformations of certain compounds from oak wood in wine over time, their concentration in long-term ageing (12-15 months) was similar for both wine aged in new barrels and in once-used barrels. The compounds which became more exhausted from barrel use were, furanic aldehydes, phenolic alcohols, phenolic aldehydes, and oak-lactones. © 2005 Swiss Society of Food Science and Technology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.