Impact of Must Sugar Reduction by Membrane Applications on Volatile Composition of Verdejo Wines

Abstract

Climate changes are inducing increased sugar levels of must, which produces negative effects on wine quality, as unbalanced wines with high degrees of alcohol. So, effective strategies to control the increase of sugar levels in must have been studied. One of them is the use of a membrane process, and this is applied in this work. The sugar level of white must from Verdejo (Vitis vinifera variety) was reduced using diverse membrane processes, and the effect of this fact on the volatile composition of the corresponding wines is studied. The study was carried out during three consecutive vintages. An important impact of the reduction of sugar levels of must on the volatile composition of the obtained wines was detected, which was due to some retention phenomena of aromatic and precursor compounds. To minimize the volatile composition modifications, an appropriate selection of the nanofiltration membrane must be done.