Elsevier

Food Chemistry

Volume 103, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 1228-1236
Food Chemistry

Sensory properties and aroma compounds of sweet Fiano wine

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2006.10.027Get rights and content

Abstract

The aroma of sweet Fiano wine, the most representative non-aromatic white wine variety in southern Italy, was evaluated by sensory and instrumental analysis to determine the influence of grape overripeness, drying and Botrytis cinerea infection. Sensory descriptive analysis was used to evaluate the sensory properties of wines. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/olfactometry (GC/O) techniques were used to identify and to determine the content of free and bound volatile compounds and their odour impact. A sensory descriptive analysis had revealed that the sensory descriptors such as citrus jam, dried apricot, dried figs, prune, honey and coconut, occur in sweet Fiano wine more than in base Fiano wine. Thirty five free volatile compounds had higher levels in sweet Fiano wine than in base Fiano wine, these components were mostly terpenes, β-damascenone, lactones, aldehydes and ketones. Moreover higher levels of terpenes, β-damascenone, benzyl alcohol and 2-phenylethanol were found in the bound volatile fraction of sweet Fiano wine. The main odour impact compounds in sweet Fiano wine were nerol, geraniol and linalool (orange flowers), vitispirane (camphor), lactones such as γ-nonalactone (coconut), δ-decalactone and γ-decalactone (apricot) and 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom). These differences appear to be due to the fact that grape overripeness and the drying process allows concentration of varietal aromatic compounds and an easier transfer of them from skins to must during vinification.

Introduction

In some grape growing areas in Europe, such as Germany, France, Hungary and Italy, the production of overripe grapes for special (sweet) wines has a long tradition. Riesling and Semillon grapes are the primary cultivars used in the production of these sweet wines from botrytized or non botrytized grapes. Other varieties, such as Furmint, Picolit, Gewurztraminer, Chenin blanc and Pinot blanc, are used depending on tradition and adaptation to local conditions. In Italy the main varieties used for this wine style are Malvasia and Moscato but also local varieties (Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara) are used as in the case of the famous Amarone wine.

A loss of firmness and a very soft texture, due to the senescence or aging of fruit tissues, are the most evident characteristics of overripe fruit. These physical features increase susceptibility to mechanical damage and infection by pathogens. When the grape is infected by Botrytis cinerea a number of important transformations occur, as well as the loss of water and the release of aroma compounds present in the skin (such as terpenes or C13-norisoprenoids and monoterpenes precursors) into the must (Garcia et al., 2003, Marais, 1992, Park et al., 1991, Razungles et al., 1996).

Generally, the descriptive terms generated for sweet wines are floral, thyme flower, tropical fruit, passion fruit, mango, citrus, orange peel, apricot, dried apricot, peach, marmalade, honey and caramel (Croser, 1989). For Zinfandel the main influence of grape overripeness on wines appears to be intensified ethanol aromas, bitterness, viscosity, and black pepper and berry flavours (Noble & Shannon, 1987).

The volatile compounds identified in sweet wine belong to different chemical classes (Maarse, Visscher, Willemsens, & Boelens, 1992). In particular, a recent study on Tokaj Aszù wine shows that hydroxy-, oxo-, and dicarboxylic acid esters, responsible for coconut, chocolate, peach and fruity odour notes, were present in much higher levels than base wines (Miklósy et al., 2000, Miklósy and Kerényi, 2004).

Recently, interest in sweet wines has increased enormously and various other grape varieties, traditionally destined for dry white wine production, have been employed for these wines.

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of overripeness, drying and Botrytis cinerea on the volatile composition and quality of white wine. The experiment was conducted on the “Fiano” cultivar, the most representative white wine variety in the Campania region of Italy. The sweet and base Fiano wines were analyzed by sensory descriptive analysis and by means of gas-chromatography, gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry and gas-chromatography/olfactrometry.

Section snippets

The experimental wines

Fiano grapes were hand-harvested at full maturation (22 °Brix) in vineyards located in the town of Taurasi (AV), a DOCG area in the Campania region. For Fiano base wine, 2000 kg of grapes were crushed (0.9 atm) and SO2 (50 mg/l) and pectic enzyme (1 g/hl) were added. Must was immediately cooled to 12 °C and was submitted to static decantation (80–100 NTU). Inoculations were carried out at 30 g/hl, after yeast (R7 Lalvin, Lallemand Inc., Castel d’Azzano – Italy) rehydration in warm water for 30 min, as

Sensory descriptive analysis

In Fig. 1, a biplot of the correspondence analysis (CA) is reported. The sensorial attributes of experimental base Fiano wine (B) is very similar to that obtained with a typical Fiano wine reported in a previous study (Moio et al., 2002). They were characterized mainly by fruity notes (banana, apple, pear and pineapple), flower notes (lime, rose and acacia) and vegetable notes (mint, grass and wild fennel). On the contrary, in the sweet Fiano wine (A) these descriptors were less important,

Acknowledgement

We thank Caroline Turner for assistance in preparation of the manuscript.

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