Effects of winemaking on ‘Marselan’ red wines: volatile compounds and sensory aspects

Abstract

Winemaking processes and volatile compounds perform an important role in contributing to the quality of wines. ‘Marselan’ is a red grape variety grown in several countries such as France, Brazil and China. This variety has gained international interest in recent years. The volatile profile of Brazilian ‘Marselan’ red wines during various winemaking processes was studied. Four processes were applied: thermovinification, integrale vinification, classic winemaking and classic winemaking pretreated with ultrasound. The wines were characterized with conventional physicochemical analyses, volatile composition and sensory analysis. Sixty-three volatile compounds were identified and semi-quantified. The wines presented different sensory characteristics. The thermovinification and classic winemaking with ultrasound application methods showed a large presence of esters contributing to a fruity and overmaturation aroma in the volatile profile and sensory analysis. An increased presence of vegetal and sulfurous aromas was observed in the wines from the classic winemaking and integrale vinification processes. This effect was most likely attributed to the lower influence of esters which generated a greater perception of other compounds and conferred these aromas. The differences can be directly linked to the various extraction rates in the vinification processes, which result in different interactions between the compounds.