Abstract
The freshly distilled wine spirit has a high concentration of ethanol and many volatile compounds, but is devoid of phenolic compounds other than volatile phenols. Therefore, an ageing period in the wooden barrel is required to attain sensory fullness and high quality. During this process, several phenomena take place, namely the release of low molecular weight phenolic compounds and tannins from the wood into the wine spirit. Research conducted over the last decades shows that they play a decisive role on the physicochemical characteristics and relevant sensory properties of the beverage. Their contribution to the antioxidant activity has also been emphasized. Besides, some studies show the modulating effect of the ageing technology, involving different factors such as the barrel features (including the wood botanical species, those imparted by the cooperage technology, and the barrel size), the cellar conditions, and the operations performed, on the phenolic composition and related properties of the aged wine spirit. This review aims to summarize the main findings on this topic, taking into account two featured barrel characteristics—the botanical species of the wood and the toasting level.
Highlights
The aged wine spirit is one of the most representative alcoholic beverages, taking into account production, trade [1], and consumption [2] worldwide
In addition to the low molecular weight phenolic compounds, five hydrolysable tannins were identified and quantified in aged wine spirits by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), respectively [122] (Table 2)
The reviewed literature demonstrates thatbythe phenolic composition and some related of the aged wine spirit are effectively modulated the kind of wood and the toasting level of the properties of the aged wine spirit are effectively modulated by the kind of wood and the toasting properties ofworth the aged wine spirit are effectively modulated by the spirit kind of wood and the toasting barrel. It is mentioning the highest enrichment of the wine in low molecular weight level of the barrel. It is worth mentioning the highest enrichment of the wine spirit in low molecular level of the barrel
Summary
The aged wine spirit is one of the most representative alcoholic beverages, taking into account production, trade [1], and consumption [2] worldwide. Several studies mention the antioxidant activity of some phenolic acids [60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69], phenolic aldehydes [70,71], coumarins [72], tannins [65,67,73,74,75], lignans [76], and of some volatile phenols [77] This topic is of great relevance in a spirit drink, since the harmful effect of high alcoholic strength on consumer’s health can be offset by the intake of such bioactive compounds [74,78,79,80,81,82,83,84]. Such benefits are expected in beverages that have undergone ageing in wood, especially wine spirits and whisky, but not in the traditional gins and vodkas [78]
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