Influence of Technological Operations in the Dissolved Oxygen Content of Wines

Abstract

Oxygen plays a crucial role in oenology. The oxygen leads to changes in the chemical and sensory profile of wines. On one hand, the impact of moderate oxygen exposure of red wine has a positive effect in its colour, aromatic bouquet and mouth-feel properties. On the other hand, oxygen has a negative effect on white wine's quality, as well as the sensory and compositional levels. The purpose of this study was to quantify the dissolved oxygen in red and white wine, during different cellar operations such as racking, tartaric stabilization, filtering and bottling. The techniques that contribute most to the enrichment of oxygen in wine are: cold tartaric stabilization (2.29 mg/L, white wines), bottling (1.38 mg/L red wines and 1.11 mg/L white wines) and bag-in-box filling (2.47 mg/L red wines; 2.22 mg/L white wines). After identifying the most critical technical operations in wine making, preventive and corrective measures had to be taken to reduce the dissolved oxygen content of wines, as well as preventing their depreciation.