Abstract
This work aimed to establish a wine esters database from French wines in order to update the knowledge of wine aroma composition. Thirty odorant esters were quantified by HS/SPME-GC/MS in 183 commercial French wines ranging from 1 to 29 years old among red, dry white, sweet white, rosé and red wines from carbonic maceration (BN). Higher levels of ethyl esters of fatty acids (EEFAs) were found in wines made at low temperature (white and rosé). However, EEFAs relative composition was similar in all kinds of wines and mainly depended on the length of the carbon chain. Higher alcohol acetates (HAAs) levels were rather favored in wines made under strict anaerobiosis (BN, white) but the relative composition of HAAs depended on the group of wine considered. Such variability in the relative compositions of HAAs between wines might originate from differences in lipids, oxygen and nitrogen status of fermented media. Conversely, ethyl esters of branched acids (EEBAs) and cinnamates displayed higher concentration in wines made with grape skin contact (BN, red). The relative compositions of EEBAs were similar regardless the type of wine, ethyl isobutyrate being the most abundant. We hypothesized that this specific EEBAs profile in wines might originate from the redox balance regulation of yeast metabolism. Moreover, ethyl esters of branched acids levels increased with wine age at similar rate in white and red wines. On the other hand, hydrolysis reactions over wine aging were suggested by the analyses only for higher alcohol acetates in white wines and for ethyl decanoate and dodecanoate in red and white wines. Such results open new perspectives about the aromatic contribution of esters in aged wine.
- ©2014 by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture
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