Volatile compounds of base wines for the production of Lessini Durello sparkling wine

AIM: Durello is a sparkling wine produced in the Lessini mountains near Verona. The wine is made from Durella grapes, a native white grape variety with a particularly high acidity. In spite of the small production area  (375 ha for only 35 producers), there is a growing interest in this product. However, little is known about the aromatic profiles of these wines. The aim of this work was to characterize the aroma profile of Durella base wines suitable for the production of Lessini Durello sparkling wine.

METHODS: 14 base wines from Durella grapesfrom different producers were used for this study. Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) and Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) sampling techniques coupled to GC-MS analysis allowed to identify and quantify a total of 62 volatile compounds.

RESULTS: Durello base wines showed relatively high levels of vitispirane, ß-damascenone, ß-citronellol and esters. The norisoprenoid content was higher than in other dry still wines of the sare region (Garganega, Lugana, Pujnot Grigio),  which appeared of particular interest considering the early harvest of  grapes for sparkling wine production. Odor activity value (OAV) was used to assess the compounds that most contributed to wine aroma. The compounds with an OAV >1 were the ethyl octanoate, ß-damascenone, ethyl hexanoate, isoamyl acetate, octanoic acid, ethyl butanoate, hexanoic acid, TPB, 3-methylbutanoic acid, ethyl 3-methylbutanoate, isoamyl alcohol, ethyl decanoate and finally TDN. The evaluation of the wine aroma profile by means of aromatic series indicated that Durello base wines were characterized by the “fruity” series.

Analysis of a subset of Durello wines fromthree different regions within the Lessini Mountains, namely Brenton, Chiampo and Duello , showed that the three areas could be differentiated based on content of methyl salicylate, and the glycosidic precursors of cis-2-hexen-1-ol and 3-oxo-α-ionol.

CONCLUSIONS: Base wines for the production of Durello sparkling wine were characterized by high concentrations of norisoprenoids and esters which can contribute to the fruity and tobacco aroma of wine.

These results can be particularly useful for winemakers in order to create distinctive wine styles