The aim of this work is mainly to determine the effect of the pedoclimatic conditions (“terroir”) on the phenolic composition of wine originated from three French red grape varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah, cultivated in the region of Thessaloniki (Northern Greece); simultaneously a study of its evolution during aging in a stainless steel tank, in oak barrels of different origin and in bottles is conducted. Additionally, in this work, we try to compare the evolution of phenolic composition of wines during aging in French medium toast oak barrel and in American heavy toast oak barrel. For this reason, 20 red wine samples originated from this area were analyzed. The color markers were measured by UV-spectrometry, while the phenolic acids and catechin content of the wine samples and their evolution during aging were determine by UVis-High performance liquid chromatography. Significant differences detected among the three grape varieties regarding color parameters, total anthocyanins and some phenolic acids. The increase of the extraction time during vinification affected the amounts of phenolic acids, catechin, total phenolic index (TPI) and tannin content. Gallic acid and catechin were the most abundant phenolic compounds and their amounts, as well as the concentrations of several phenolic acids were significantly affected during the storage period. Finally, the phenolic composition and the amounts of phenolic acids did not appear to be affected by the origin of oak barrels.
Studies have shown that the wine phenolic compounds originate mainly from grape extraction during vinification [
It is well known that phenolic compounds are important ingredients of wine and affect several sensory attributes, such as color and astringency [
On the other hand, the development of the astringent taste of red wines is due to the concentrated tannins (catechins), which are very important for the long term stabilization of color [
Antioxidant and antibacterial activity of phenolics has been well established [
Phenolic acids present antibiotic and antiseptic attributes thus are used for food preservation. It is likely that these acids play some role in the microbiological stability of wine, mainly towards bacteria. Those phenolic acids that posses two phenolic hydroxyls (-OH) in ortho-position, such as gallic acid, have the attribute to easily oxidise in quinones, affecting the color of white wines [
The purpose of this study is to assess and compare several color markers and phenolic acid concentrations of wine made from different grape varieties, as well as wines vinified with different techniques or aged under diverse conditions.
In the present work 20 wine samples were studied (
All French grape varieties were classically vinified after a six-day extraction period except of the Merlot-c wine, which was extracted for three weeks. All wines were stored initially in a stainless steel tank for 4 months, transferred in barrels for 2 months and finally were bottled in order to study the evolution of color markers during aging. The Merlot-a and Syrah-d wines (