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Home>Volume92Issue38>ATasteOfWineScience

Volume92Issue38|pp.2830
IssueDate:September22,2014

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ATasteOfWineScience

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ACSMeetingNews:Researcherszeroinonflavormolecules,ponderwaystocontrolthemduringproduction
ByLaurenK.Wolf

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Department:Science&Technology
NewsChannels:AnalyticalSCENE,EnvironmentalSCENE
Keywords:news,wine,enology,aroma,taste,volatiles,nonvolatiles,metabolomics,irrigation,vineyards

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Ifyouveeverslapped$5.00downonabartotasteawinerysofferings,
youvelikelybeenregaledwithtalesoftheartofwinemaking.Whilepatrons
clinktheirglassesandchatteraboutavintagesbody,winemakersandtheir
stafftypicallypointouthowgrapequality,barrelaging,andaparticularyears
weathercontributedtotheirproductsflavorsandaromas.Rarelydothey
mentionmonitoringtheirmerlotspHortrackingtheamountofmethoxypyrazine
thataccumulatedintheircabernetsgrapes.Sciencetalk,inotherwords,is
avoidedliketheplague.

[+]Enlarge

Consumerspreferitthatway,enologistGavinL.SacksrecentlytoldC&EN.
Partoftheappealofwineistheideathattheproducerdidnotexercise
completecontrolovertheprocess.
Indeed,manyoftheenvironmentalfactorsthatshapeawinessensoryprofile,
includinghumidityandaveragerainfall,areoutofawineryshands.Butthere
arenumerouspointsalongagrapesjourneytobecomingawinewhereexperts
cananddoscientificallyintervenetoinfluencethefinalbeverage.

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Wineresearchersgatheredlastmonthtodiscusssomeoftheseintervention
strategiesduringasessionheldattheAmericanChemicalSocietynational
meetinginSanFrancisco.Duringthesymposium,sponsoredbytheDivisionof
Agricultural&FoodChemistry,enologistsreportedontheireffortstoisolate

Credit:Shutterstock

winesflavorcomponentsandcontrolthemtomakeabetterproduct.
Grapegrowersandwinemakers,theymightgivetheillusionthattheyretalking

tothevinesandjustlettingnaturehappen,saidSacks,aprofessoratCornellUniversityandcoorganizerofthesymposium.But
therearestacksofperiodicalsinmanyoftheirofficestechnicalandpeerreviewedjournalsandtheyreadeverydetail.
ScientistssuchasSackshavelongbeentryingtounderstandtheinterplayofawineschemicalcomponentssothattheycanhelp
winemakersachievedesiredtastesandaromas.Inthe1970sand80s,enologistsbeganinearnesttoanalyzewinesand
correlateindividualcompoundswithsensoryattributes.Becauseofadvancesinanalyticaltechniques,theymanagedtonaildown
manyofthekeymoleculesduringthe2000s.
OneresearcherwhosmademajorcontributionstothisareaofresearchisThomasHofmann,afoodchemistattheTechnical
UniversityofMunich(TUM).InSanFrancisco,hedazzledtheaudiencebydescribinghisteamseffortstostripawinedownto
itskeyflavorcomponentstheonesthathumanssensewhentheytakeasip.
Nobodyknowsforsureexactlyhowmanycompoundsaglassofwinecomprises,HofmanntoldC&EN.Butitsdefinitelyinthe
thousands.
Tozeroinonthesmallgroupthatdictatesawinesflavorprofile,Hofmannandhisteamrelyonbothanalyticalmethodsanda
panelofvolunteerstrainedoveratwoyearperiodtoidentifysensoryattributessuchassourandastringent,whichisadrying
sensationinthemouth.In2008,theresearchersbegantheirindepthstudies,usingliquidchromatographytodivideahighquality

DroughtBoostsResveratrolIn
Cabernets

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Italiandryredwine,amarone,intomolecularfractions.Theirvolunteerslabeledeachfractionassweet,mouthfuladescriptor
forrichnessandsoon.
Oncetheresearchershadthisinformation,theyusedmassspectrometrytoidentifythespecificcompoundsineachfractionand
finallyreengineeredawine.Tomakethissyntheticbeverage,theresearchersselected80somemoleculesfromtheirfractions
andaddedthemtowateratconcentrationsnormallyfoundinamarone.Workingwiththetrainedtasters,Hofmannandhisteam
thenremovedafewcompoundsatatimeuntiltheywereleftwiththe35moleculesthatweresufficienttosimulatethetasteand
feelofarealamarone(J.Agric.FoodChem.2008,DOI:10.1021/jf073031nand10.1021/jf801742w).
AccordingtoHofmann,theseorosensorymoleculesarenotallittakestoreconstituteamarone.Another25or30volatile
compoundsarerequiredtodescribeitsaromaanimportantpartoftheoverallexperienceofdrinkingawine.
Heandhisteamhavecontinuedusingtheirsocalledsensomicsapproachtoinvestigateamultitudeofotherwines.Theyvefound
thatthesame60orsokeyaromaandtastemoleculesdescribeeverywine.Andwhatmakesonewinetastelikeamerlotand
anothertastelikeacabernetsauvignonisthedifferenceinthesekeycompoundsconcentrations.Thatsalsowhy,evenifyou
haveawinefromthesamewinerythisyearandlastyear,theymighttastesimilarbutnotidentical,Hofmannsaid.Inthevineyard,
minorchangesinthemoleculesconcentrationsareinducedinthegrapesbyvariationsintemperature,humidity,andsoon.
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NOTE:Astringent=Adrysensationinthemouththatcanbesmooth,sandpapery,and/orbitter.Mouthful=Asensationofrichnessinthemouth.
SOURCES:Hofmannlaboratory/TUM,J.Agric.FoodChem.2008,ODHOI:10.1021O/jHf073031nand10.1021/jf801742w
DownloadaPDFofthegraphichere.
Credit:Shutterstock/C&EN

Somewineresearchersarenowtryingtounderstandhowthesetypesofenvironmentalfactorsaffectthechemicalcomposition
ofgrapesand,inturn,wine.AttheACSmeeting,HildegardeHeymann,anenologistattheUniversityofCalifornia,Davis,
presentedherteamsstudyontheroleavineyardslocationplaysinawinesaroma.Theresearchersusedgas

chromatographymassspectrometrytoanalyzethevolatilecompoundsemittedbyabout40malbecsfromregionsofCalifornia,
suchasNapaValley,andregionsofArgentinainthehighaltitudeMendozaprovince.Thentheymathematicallycorrelated
prominentaromamoleculeswithsensorydatareportedbyapaneloftrainedodorexperts.

SusanE.Ebeler,amemberoftheUCDavisteam,toldC&ENthatthecoolthingaboutthisstudyisthatallthemalbecswere
producedinthesameway.Workingwithvineyardsonbothcontinents,theresearchersensuredthatthegrapecrushing,
fermentation,andagingstepswereassimilaraspossiblebetweenwines.Thisway,theteamcouldteaseoutthemolecularand
sensorydifferencescausedsolelybywherethegrapesweregrown,saidEbeler,alsoacoorganizeroftheACSmeeting
symposium.
TheUCDavisteamfoundthattheArgentinianmalbecsweresweeterandcontainedmorealcoholthantheCalifornianmalbecs,
whichweremorebitter(FoodChem.2014,DOI:10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.07.085).Theythinkamajorityofthedifferences
betweenthetwotypesofwinehavetodowiththealtitudeatwhichthegrapesweregrown.Rainfallplaysasmallerrole.Theteam
hopesthisstudywillprovideajumpingoffpointformoreindepthinvestigationsofhowawineschemicalcompositionis
influencedbyitsprovenance.
Giventhatvineyardconditionssuchasrainfallhelpshapethetastesandaromasthatultimatelyappearinwine,researcherswould
alsoliketoidentifywhatkindsofthingswecandointhevineyardtoimpactawinesflavorprofile,Ebelersaid.
MichaelT.Cleary,directorofchemistryatE.&J.GalloWinery,inCalifornia,sharedsomethoughtswiththeaudiencein
SanFranciscoonafewofthesevineyardstrategies.GallobuysgrapesfromvineyardsacrossCaliforniatomakeitsvino,soits
interestedinwhygrapequalityvariesfromestatetoestate.Clearyandhisteamanalyzegrapecompositiondailyand,onthebasis
oftheirexperience,havecomeupwithwhattheycallobjectivemeasuresofgrapequality.
Oneofthesemeasuresistheamountof3isobutyl2methoxypyrazinefoundinsidegrapes.Thisvolatilecompoundhasavegetal,
bellpepperodorthat,athighconcentrations,isdispleasingtoconsumers.Researchers,includingCornellsSacks,have
determinedthatgrapesexposedtodirectsunlightaccumulatelessoftheodorantthangrapesintheshade.
Ratherthanfilterthetroublesomecompoundoutofwinewithsubstancessuchascharcoalwhichmightalsoremovebeneficial
moleculesClearysuggestedpruningleavesfromvinestoexposegrapeclusterstomoredirectlight.
AnotherqualitymarkerClearydiscussedattheACSmeetingisawinestanninlevel.Tanninsarepolyphenolsthatcauseagritty
sensationinthemouthbybindingtosalivaryproteinsthere.Consumersenjoytanninsinredwines,butenologistshavelearned
thatjustbecauseagrapecontainsalotoftanninsdoesntmeanthecorrespondingwinewilltoo.
Sacksandhisteamrecentlyshowedthattheamountoftanninsextractedduringwinemakinginverselycorrelateswiththeamount
ofproteinonthecellwallswithinagrapesflesh.Thisfindingsuggeststhattanninsbindsotightlytotheproteinsthattheycant
releaseintothewine(J.Agric.FoodChem.2014,DOI:10.1021/jf5023274).Toboostthetanninlevelinvino,Sackssuggested
thatwinemakersmightaddaproteasetothecrushedgrapesduringthewinemakingprocesstodegradetheinterferingproteins.
Onceresearchershaveabettergriponwhichstepinthewinemanufacturingprocessgenerateswhichimportantflavor
compound,theyllbeabletohelpwinemakersimprovetheirproducts,TUMsHofmannsaid.Ifthemoleculesandreactionsthat
producethemareunknown,winemakingisjusttrialanderror,orart,asyoumightcallit,hesaid.Byaddingscientificknowhow,
itcanstillbeart,butwecanhelpawinemakeralittlebittobetterhittheirtarget.
hemical&EngineeringNews
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ISSN00092347
Copyright2014AmericanChemicalSociety

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