Discrimination of varietal wines according to their volatiles

Abstract

A method is being proposed in order to discriminate bottled wines of different varieties when no other information is known. The advantages of the method consist in the fact that anyone who wants to certify the variety, which is written on the label or the area of origin, can use such a technique to achieve the conformity. Additionally, the method can be easily applied by laboratories equipped with a GC. The differentiation has been achieved by using only seven of the total extracted volatiles, mainly higher alcohols and higher alcohol esters, namely 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2,3-butanediol, ethyl lactate, 3-methyl-1-butyl acetate, 2-phenylethanol, phenyl ethyl acetate and p-hydroxy phenyl ethanol. These key compounds are not relevant to a single variety. The proposed method does not take into account variables such as the year of vintage and fermentation procedures (agitation, temperature).

Keywords: 2,3-Butanediol; 2-Phenylethanol; 3-Methyl-1-butanol; 3-Methyl-1-butyl acetate; Agiorgitiko; Chardonnay; Ethyl lactate; Moschofilero; PCA; Phenyl ethyl acetate; Wines discrimination; p-Hydroxy phenyl ethanol.