Wine aging and artificial simulated wine aging: Technologies, applications, challenges, and perspectives

Abstract

Aging is essential for improving the quality of wine, especially for red wine and special wine types. High-quality wines are traditionally produced by ageing them in oak barrels, some special wines also produced by aging on lees, temperature aging method, biological aging, etc. They are very time-consuming and expensive, which seriously affects the production capacity and economic benefits of wineries. In this review, the principles and changing process of oak aging and other traditional aging methods were first discussed. Then, improving the aging effect and the influential factors of modern technologies that can simulate oak aging, such as micro-oxygenation, oak products, and coupling technology, etc., are analyzed. In short, using artificial aging technology to shorten the aging time, improve wine quality and reduce production costs and meet market demand has become an inevitable tendency. However, unclear reaction principles and changing process and unstable quality restrict the commercialization of artificial aging technology. Therefore, we identify future research necessary to further clarify, regulate, and optimize artificial aging technologies that perfectly simulate the traditional barrel maturation environment to truly promote applications in the wine industry.

Keywords: Artificial aging methods; Industrialization; Micro-oxygenation; Oak product; Traditional aging methods; Wine.