Maturation of Moristel in Different Vineyards: Amino Acid and Aroma Composition of Mistelles and Wines with Particular Emphasis in Strecker Aldehydes.

The aim of this article was to assess the influence of the harvest date on the composition of amino acids and derived aromatic compounds in grape-mistelle and wine of the Moristel variety, in different vineyards. Two vineyards were sampled in 2016 and another one in 2017. At each sampling point, grapes were collected, destemmed, crushed and divided into four aliquots. The first three were fermented, and the latter was treated with ethanol, to produce 1-week macerates containing 15% ethanol (v/v)-mistelles. Overall, 10 mistelles and 33 wines were produced. Amino acids, Strecker aldehydes and aroma compounds were analysed. Amino acid profiles are characteristic of the vineyard and level of ripeness, converging with maturation. In fermentation, major amino acids, except proline, are consumed at a relatively fixed and specific tax, while consumption of 13 amino acids is determined by the ratios of alanine, glutamic acid, serine and threonine, with γ-aminobutyric acid. After fermentation, amino acid precursors to Strecker aldehydes are maxima in unripe and overripe samples, while Strecker aldehydes are maxima in unripe wines. No direct correlations between precursor amino acids in mistelle and aromatic compounds in wine have been found. Nevertheless, must amino acid profiles could determine wine aroma composition.

Some clues about the changes in wine aroma composition associated to the maturation of "neutral" grapes.

This paper presents a study of the influence of the harvesting date on concentrations of odorants in Moristel wines of two vintages. The wine made from grapes harvested early facilitated the accumulation of acetaldehyde (associated with low polyphenols concentrations) and higher concentrations of branched acids. A reason for these greater levels could be the lack of reduction factors (NADH or NADPH). Other changes with potential sensory consequences are the decrease of the branched acid/branched alcohol, branched ester/branched acid and branched ester/branched alcohol ratios that occurs as the grapes ripen. Besides, the variations of varietal or typical maturation markers did not have sensory importance. These results suggest that the characteristics of wines associated to the degree of maturity of grapes are mostly related to the changes in the profiles of fermentative compounds (especially acetaldehyde) induced by changes in the polyphenolic content and in the medium in which the yeast develops.

Development of a new strategy for studying the aroma potential of winemaking grapes through the accelerated hydrolysis of phenolic and aromatic fractions (PAFs).

Current methods for assessing grape aroma potential are based on the fast hydrolysis of precursor fractions but provide hydrolyzates of poor aromatic quality. A new strategy based on the accelerated hydrolysis of reconstituted phenolic and aromatic fractions (PAFs) extracted from grapes is herein developed. PAFs are obtained by solid phase extraction on 10 g-C18 sorbents of partially dealcoholized "mistelle", obtained from grapes treated with ethanol. Under optimal conditions, PAFs contain all aroma precursors but the most polar ones, such as those of DMS, more than 85% of the total phenolics and just traces of metal cations and of amino acids. PAFs reconstituted in model wine, aged in strict anoxia 7 weeks at 45 °C or 24 h at 75 °C, develop strong aromas. At least 30 different odorants including lipid derivatives, volatile phenols, vanillins, norisoprenoids, terpenes, bencenoids and 3-mercaptohexanol were identified by GC-Olfactometry and GC-MS. Methodological aspects of the extraction, hydrolysis and analysis are optimized and discussed.