Maturing wines in oak barrels. Effects of origin, volume, and age of the barrel on the wine volatile composition.

Abstract

The influence of the oak origin, volume, and age of the barrel on the volatile composition of a red wine after six months of maturation have been studied. Major volatile compounds in wine were determined using liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane, and those volatiles being due to the oak were determined by extraction with pentane-ether using deuterated analogues as internal standards. The results show that there is little difference between the volatile composition of wines matured in French oak barrels and those matured in American oak barrels. The concentration of cis-oak lactone was the most significant difference. The greatest instrumental and sensory differences were found between new and used barrels, with important decreases in lactones and vanillin concentration in used barrels. When studying the effect of the volume of the barrel, the characteristics of the wine matured in 220-L new barrels versus those matured in 1000-L new barrels were very different. In new barrels, the larger the volume of the barrel, the lower the concentrations of those compounds responsible for the oaky aroma. These differences were less evident when comparing wines matured in used barrels with different capacities.