Effect of Vinification and Variety on Foam Capacity of Wine

¹ Nutrición y Bromatología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Barcelona. Avda. Joan XXIII, s/n, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.

elopez{at}farmacia.far.ub.es

The foam capacity of grape juices, and the cloudy wines and base wines obtained from these juices, which are used for Cava (Spanish sparkling wine) production, was studied in order to determine the relationships between the foam properties and physicochemical parameters of the juices and the foam behavior of the wines. Grape juices and wines were obtained in three consecutive years of harvest on an industrial scale, in the same winery, and came from the white varieties grown in the Cava region (Macabeo, Xarel.lo, Parellada and Chardonnay). Some juice characteristics defined the foam behavior of their wines: for example, grape juices with a high maturation index (ranging from 4 - 5.5) gave wines with higher foamability and foam stability time. The foamability of wines was inversely proportional to their foam stability time. Foamability decreased and foam stability time increased from cloudy wines to base wines, because the positive compounds for foamability, which were predominantly negative for foam stability time, were removed during winemaking. The foam capacity of wine blends depended on the balance between the foaming capacities of the monovarietal base wines that were added to the blend.

Key words: foam capacity, grape juices, sparkling base wines, blending, winemaking process

Submitted on August 13, 1997
Revised on March 4, 1998