New techniques for wine aging

Abstract

The aging of wine requires a long time therefore it can cause loss of time and money. Therefore using of new techniques for wine aging shortens the length of aging time and wines may be placed on the market more quickly. Nowadays, gamma irradiation, ultrasonic waves, AC electric field and micro-oxygenation are the new techniques for wine aging. Gamma irradiation (after fermentation) is accelerated physical maturation method. Gamma irradiation, in a suitable dosage (200 Gy), is a suitable method for improving some wine defects and producing a higher taste quality in wine. The 20 kHz ultrasonic waves aged wine much more quickly than standard aging, with similar quality. The wine treated by 20 kHz ultrasonic waves had a taste equivalent to 1 year aged wine. Wine maturing with AC electric field promises novel process accelerating aging process of fresh wine when suitable conditions are applied. As a result of research, an optimum treatment (electric field 600 V/cm and duration time 3 min) was identified to accelerate wine aging. Harsh and pungent raw wine become harmonious and dainty. This process is equivalent to 6 month aging in oak barrel. Microoxygenation is a very important technique used in aging wines in order to improve their characteristics. The techniques of wine tank aging imply the use of small doses of oxygen (2 ml L−1 month−1 ) and the addition of wood pieces of oak to the wine. Studies concerning these new techniques demonstrated that maturation of wines become more quickly than standard maturation procedures with keeping and improving the wine quality.