Highlighting the varietal origin of eugenol in Armagnac wine spirits from Baco blanc, a hybrid grape variety.

Abstract

We report on the first evidence of a varietal origin of eugenol as a molecular marker in Baco blanc, one of the grape varieties used to produce Armagnac. Eugenol was identified and quantified by HS-SPME-GC-MS. For two separate vintages, the concentrations found in monovarietal wine spirits made from Baco blanc, were, on average, 10 times higher than those in other Vitis varieties, ranging from 31.0 to 174.7µg/L. Investigations were carried out to quantify eugenol in the wines used for distillation, in the musts and finally in several parts of the plant. For all matrices over both vintages, it was confirmed that eugenol is much more abundant in Baco blanc than in Ugni blanc and Folle blanche. Moreover, enzymatic hydrolysis made it possible to release a significant quantity of eugenol from precursors, demonstrating that more than 90% of eugenol is bound in the must and in the grape berry pulp.