Detailed chemical composition of Cabernet Sauvignon wines aged in French oak barrels coopered with three different stave bending techniques

Abstract

Cabernet Sauvignon wines were aged for 15 months in used and new French 225 L oak barrels, followed by a period of 3 months in bottle. In addition to control barrels (3 years old), three bending/toasting protocols, including fire bent and fire toasted (fire-bent); water bent and fire toasted (water-bent); and a hybridized method based on fire bending and toasting followed by a 12 h fill with water at 80 °C (fire-bent + hot water), were trialed in triplicate. Parameters such as acetic acid and alcohol content (higher in control wines), and anthocyanins, color and polymeric pigments (higher in wines aged in the new barrels), were more affected by barrel use (new versus neutral) than by bending/toasting protocols. At the end of the study (day 602), only 4-vinyl-guaiacol, eugenol and cis-lactone showed odor activity values (OAV’s) above 1, with the latter being the most relevant odor active compound across treatments whereas eugenol was 10-fold higher in the water-bent wines. Principal component analysis (PCA) including phenolics and volatile compounds suggested differences between wines aged in control and new barrels, but less clear-cut differences within wines aged in barrels produced with the different bending/toasting protocols.