Grape Marc Spirit Research Articles

Comparative study between Italian and Spanish grape marc spirits in terms of major volatile compounds

Twenty nine samples of grape marc spirits, nineteen from Spain (Orujo) and ten from Italy (Grappas) were analyzed by GC–MS in order to determine their major volatile composition. The results obtained showed that Orujo samples contained significantly higher concentration of methanol, 2-butanol, ethyl acetate and ethyl lactate. Grappas were defined as distillate with low contribution of the majority volatile compounds, both from qualitatively and quantitatively point of view. This aspect has a notable interest because, in the case of single-varietal aromatic distillates, the contribution of the primary aroma will be more intense. 2-phenyl ethanol, hexenols, aldehydes and the majority of ethyl esters and acetates showed large variations of concentrations between the samples; consequently they could be the responsible of the particular characteristics in these grape marc distillates.

Composition of some commercial grappas (grape marc spirit): the anomalous presence of 1,1-diethoxy-3-methylbutane: a case study

A GC-MS study of the composition of nine different grappas (Italian grape marc spirit) was carried out. High-weight alcohols showed the greatest variations, while the lower congener concentrations generally were more uniform. Particularly interesting is the presence of 1,1-diethoxy-3-methylbutane (DMB), never detected before in grappa. DMB was present in all samples, ranging from 0.8 up to 30.6 mg L−1. This latter concentration was the highest detected in an alcoholic beverage so far. A discussion on the other volatile congeners was also reported. Principal component analysis was applied to the data and explained >80% of the whole variability. Most grappas are grouped in a single cluster, while the other samples are completely separated. DMB, ethyl acetate, ethyl lactate, and n-butanol are some examples of constituent able to differentiate the tested products.