Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture

J Sci Food Agric 85:10911097 (2005)

DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.2070

Contribution and importance of wine spirit

to the port wine final qualityinitial approach
Pissarra,1 Sandra Lourenco,
Joao
1 Jose Maria Machado,2 Nuno Mateus,1
David Guimaraens2 and Victor de Freitas1
1 Faculdade

em Qumica, Rua do Campo Alegre,

de Ciencias,
Universidade do Porto, Departamento de Qumica, Centro de Investigac ao
687-4169-007 Porto, Portugal
2 The Fladgate Partnership, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

Abstract: The commercial wine spirit used for this study revealed that the aldehyde content
mainly comprises acetaldehyde but other aldehydes such as propionaldehyde, 2-methylbutyraldehyde,
isovaleraldehyde, methylglyoxal, benzaldehyde and others are also present in significant amounts. A
typical grape must was used to assess the influence of wine spirit in the analytical and sensorial
characteristics of fortified wines. Decreasing levels of anthocyanins, as well the increase in the red
colour and tanning capacity, were observed, and seem to be positively correlated with the increase of
the aldehyde content present in the wine spirits used to fortify the must. Using the CIE L a b system,
this aldehyde content present in the spirit used seemed to be correlated with the decrease of the wines
lightness (darkening effect), the displacement of the hue angle to higher values (yellowing effect) and the
increase of the chromaticity (colour saturation) of the wines.
2005 Society of Chemical Industry

Keywords: ageing; wine colour; aldehyde; wine spirit; fortified wine; quality

INTRODUCTION
In port wine-making, when about half of the original
sugar content has been converted into alcohol, the
fermentation is stopped by addition of wine spirit
(ratio wine/spirit 5:1, v/v). The quality of the
spirit is determined by its analytical and sensorial
characteristics, and for each vintage several wine spirits
commercially available are chosen by the port winemakers, taking into account their aroma quality as well
as their price. The aroma of the spirit is related to its
composition in different groups of compounds such as
higher alcohols, esters and aldehydes.1 The aldehyde
content present in wine spirit depends not only on
the original wine quality but also on the distillation
process.
Besides a little data about some aromatic compounds present in wine spirits used for the fortification
of port wines, there is practically no available information concerning the aldehyde composition of these
wine spirits. Studies performed by Vanderlinde2 with
spirits used in the production of Cognac, Armagnac
and brandies revealed that acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, isovaleraldehyde, propionaldehyde, benzaldehyde, isobutyraldehyde and 2-methylbutyraldehyde
were the most abundant aldehydes. Aldehydes such as

methylglyoxal, glyoxal and others could also be present

in some wine spirits but only in trace amounts. Appart
from benzaldehyde, which has a pleasant bitter almond
aroma, all the aldehydes studied (acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, 2-methylbutyraldehyde, isovaleraldehyde, methylglyoxal, formaldehyde and isobutyraldehyde) have an unpleasant aroma (green leaves, bitter,
unripe fruit) that could contribute negatively to the
port wine aroma.
These aldehydes, and especially acetaldehyde,
interact with anthocyanins and flavanols, changing
the red wine colour. The contribution of acetaldehyde
in the tannin polymerization and copolymerization
between flavanols and anthocyanins has been widely
reported in the literature.3 6
These phenomena contribute to the colour change
from red towards tawny that occurs during storage and
ageing (increase in colour intensity and a shift from
bright red to reddish-brown hues), which is attributed
to the progressive displacement of anthocyanins by
more stable complex pigments.5 14
In this work, a grape must was fortified with
ethanol (77% v/v) and with five commercial wine
spirits commonly used in port wine-making. The assay
of its composition in flavan-3-ol, anthocyanins and

Correspondence to: Victor de Freitas, Faculdade de Ciencias,

Universidade do Porto, Departamento de Qumica, Centro de Investigac ao
em Qumica, Rua do Campo Alegre, 687, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
E-mail: vfreitas@fc.up.pt
Contract/grant sponsor: FCT; contract/grant number: PRAXIS BD/16195/98

Contract/grant sponsor: Ministerio

da Agriculture; contract/grant number: PO.AGRO 265
(Received 6 April 2004; revised version received 23 August 2004; accepted 1 September 2004)
Published online 26 January 2005

2005 Society of Chemical Industry. J Sci Food Agric 00225142/2005/$30.00

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J Pissarra et al

colourimetric measurements was regularly performed

during 20 months of bottle ageing.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Port wine-making and wine samples
The wine-making was conducted in a 200 hL stainless
steel contains from the 2001 vintage (from sub-region
Baixo Corgo in northern Portugal and with typical
blending of most abundant grape varieties) using
usual port wine-making techniques. Several aliquots
of the grape must were used for fortification with five
different commercial wine spirits (marked 15). A
reference test was made, replacing the commercial
wine spirit by ethanol 77% (v/v; marked 0). The
final alcohol content was set to 19% (v/v), and pH
and SO2 levels were initially adjusted for all samples.
During the maturation period, regular analyses were
performed and both pH and SO2 levels were kept
constant at similar levels for all samples. The samples
were bottled after 6 months and kept in a dark and
cool environment until further use.
Wine spirit analysis
Individual aldehyde composition of commercial wine
spirit was determined according to the relative abundance of each aldehyde. Acetaldehyde was determined by GC-FID analysis, and propionaldehyde,
2-methylbutyraldehyde, isovaleraldehyde, methylglyoxal and benzaldehyde were determined by GC-MS
analysis.2
Acetaldehyde measurement by GC-FID analysis
A volume of 10 l of the internal standard solution
of methyl acetate (1.23 mM; Merck) was added to
1 ml of wine spirit. A volume of 2 l of this solution
was directly injected in a Varian Star 3400 CX gas
chromatograph with a flame ionization detector (FID).
The gas chromatograph was equipped with a Varian
CP Wax 52CB WCOT fused silica capillary column
(60 m 0.25 mm id, film thickness = 0.50 m). The
injector (split/splitless 45 s) temperature was set at
220 C and the flame ionization detector temperature
was set at 250 C. The carrier gas was helium (at a
flow of 1.0 ml min1 ) and air, hydrogen and helium
make-up flow rates were respectively 300, 30 and
3 ml min1 . The oven temperature was programmed
as follows: 40 C for 5 min; from 40 to 200 C at
3.0 C min1 ; finally isothermal at 200 C for 20 min.
A linear calibration curve was established using
standard model solutions of acetaldehyde.
GC-MS analysis of less abundant aldehydes
The method used for aldehyde determination in wine
spirit was based on aldehyde determination in wines
as described by De Revel and Bertrand.15 Owing
to the strong aldehyde polarity, the low molecular
mass compounds are very difficult to quantify using
chromatography, so the use of derivatization agents
is needed as they produce condensed compounds,
1092

oxymes, with aldehydes, which are easily detected as

they have a detection limit of few mg l1 .
A 20 ml aliquot of distilled water was added to 20 ml
of wine spirit, 50 l of dodecanal (internal standard at
200 mg l1 , Aldrich) and 1 ml of PFBOA [O-(2, 3, 4, 5,
6-pentafluorobenzyl) hydroxylamine, derivating agent
at 12 g l1 ; Fluka Chemica] and left to react for 1 h
at room temperature. The mixture was then saturated
with 7 g of NaCl and followed by three extractions with
an etherhexane solution (4 + 2 + 2 ml) according to
the procedure reported elsewhere.2 The extract was
saturated with Na2 SO4 anhydrous (Merck ) and a
volume of 2 l was set for injection in a Saturn
II (Varian) ion trap mass spectrometer (multiplier
voltage, 2550 V; emission current, 10 A; scan rate,
100 scan min1 ; detector temperature, 170 C; mass
range m/z, 30250) coupled with a Varian 3400
gas chromatograph, equipped with a Supelcowax
10 fused silica capillary column (60 m 0.25 mm id,
film thickness = 0.25 m). The oven temperature was
programmed as follows: 20 min at 40 C; 40200 C
for 32 min; 200250 C for 5 min; 60 min at 250 C.
The helium gas flow was set at 1 ml min1 .
The injector was programmed as follows: 120 C
for 0.1 min; 180 C min1 until 250 C; 18.9 min at
250 C; finally isothermal at 120 C. Injection volume
was 2 l.
Individual aldehydes were quantified by comparing
the intensity of the corresponding molecular peaks
with that of the internal standard dodecanal. Linear
calibration curves were established for each aldehyde
based on the ion peak areas for standard solutions
submitted to the same analysis procedure.
HPLC analysis of anthocyanins
Samples were analysed by HPLC (Knauer, K1001) using a C18 column (250 4.6 mm id)
thermostatted at 25 C and detection was carried
out at 520 nm using a DAD detector (Knauer, K2800). Solvents were (A) H2 O/HCOOH (9:1, w/w),
and (B) CH3 CN/H2 O/HCOOH (3:6:1, w/w). The
elution gradient was 2085% B for 70 min, 85100%
B for 5 min and then isocratic for 10 min at a flow rate
of 1.0 ml min1 according to the procedure described
in the literature.7 The anthocyanin 3-glucosides and
respective acylated esters were identified on the basis
of their UVvis spectra and retention times by
comparison with standards. Calibration curves were
used to quantify all the anthocyanins glucoside and
acylated esters and the results are expressed in mg of
malvidin 3-glucoside (Mv3gl) per litre of wine.
Red colour evaluation
The contribution of total anthocyanins for the
relative red colour of wines was evaluated directly
by spectrophotometry at 520 nm using a Shimadzu
spectrophotometer (UV-265) and a 1 mm quartz cell.
L a b colour measurements
Spectral transmittance curves were recorded from
360 to 830 nm with a 1 nm sampling interval, using
J Sci Food Agric 85:10911097 (2005)

Contribution of wine spirit to port wine quality

a 2 mm pathlength cell and a UV-3101 Shimadzu

spectrophotometer. The colour coordinates were
determined in the CIELAB colour space using
CIE D65/10 illuminant/observer conditions. All the
colour calculations were performed using a computer
program developed at the Department of Physics of
Porto University. Tristimulus values were used to
calculate the CIE L a b coordinates (a , b and
L ). The colour psychophysical parameters chroma
(C ) and hue angle (ha,b ) were obtained by the
transformation of the Cartesian coordinates (a and
b ) to polar coordinates (C and ha,b ), according to the
described in literature.16,17
To allow a better correlation between visual and
colorimetric differences, the colorimetric difference

E and its components
L ,
C and
H for
each sample pair [sample and reference (with ethanol
fortification)] were determined according to Gonnet.16
From the spectral transmittance curves, a set of
tristimulus values (X, Y and Z) was computerized for
each illuminant/observer condition, and the L a b
coordinates determined according to Gonnet.16 L
means lightness to darkness (+L or L); +a redness
to greenness a; +b yellowness to blueness b. Other
parameters were C, chroma, ranging from neutral
to fully saturated colour (+C or C), and h, the
hue angle of colour change around the colour circle
(+h or h). The CIELAB measurement showed that
colour intensity was an ambiguous term for product
colour, since it indistinctly covered simultaneous or
alternate variations of two colour attributes (lightness
and chroma), which differently influenced colour
appreciation.18 The colour difference or colorimetric
difference,
E , reveals the changes in all colorimetric
parameters such as chroma, lightness and tonality, and
a mean threshold value of
E 1 was assumed as
a basis for perceptible colour differences between two
solutions.17,18
Polyphenol molecular weight index
Wine (5 ml) was introduced into a dialysis tubing
(cellulose; 6 mm id; nominal molecular weight cut
offs of 12 00016 000; average porous radius of 25 A)
and placed into a vial with 50 ml of synthetic solution
(12% aqueous ethanol, 5 g l1 tartaric acid, pH 3.2).
In the second vial 5 ml of wine was diluted directly
with the same hydroalcoholic solution up to 50 ml
(reference solution, do ). Both vials were closed and

stored at room temperature for 24 h, and the dialysis

index was determined [PDI = (do d)/do ] according
to the procedure described in the literature.19
Tannin-specific activity
The tannin-specific activity (TSA), as reported
elsewhere,19 was assessed using nephelometric procedures already described in literature using a HACH
2100N Turbidimeter.20 The fortified wine was diluted
to 1:50 with synthetic solution (12% aqueous ethanol,
5 g l1 tartaric acid and pH 3.2) previously filtered
(0.45 m). A 150 l aliquot of bovine serum albumin
solution (BSA) was added to 4 ml of the wine solution
in a test tube. The mixture was then shaken and stored
at room temperature for 40 min. Wine tannins bind
with BSA to form insoluble complexes. This haze formation of the solution increased with time, and after
40 min the formation of the complexes stopped and
the haze stabilized. The tannin-specific activity was
expressed in Nephelos turbidity units (NTU) per litre
of wine.
Statistical analysis
All samples were analysed in triplicate. Analysis of
standard deviation was performed for every mean.
The analysis of variance by ANOVA tests was
also performed in order to test the effect of each
treatment. Differences were considered significant
when p < 0.05.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Polyphenolic characterization of fortified wine
samples
After 6 months of bottle ageing, the composition of
anthocyanidin monoglucosides (AMG) and flavan-3ol oligomers of the fortified wine samples showed
some differences depending on the wine spirit used
(Table 1). The AMG content of these wines was
within a range of 220440 mg l1 . The fortified wine
W5 showed the lowest AMG content (221.7 mg l1 )
and the wine fortified with ethanol (W0) revealed
the highest anthocyanin content. These contents were
shown to be statistically different at the p < 0.01 level
and this outcome raised the possibility of the influence
of the wine spirit composition on the interactions
involving these pigments.

Table 1. Polyphenolic characterization of the sample wines fortified with five wine spirits (15) and ethanol (0) at 77% (v/v) after 6 months of bottle
ageing. The content of AMG (anthocyanin monoglucoside and acylated esters) is expressed in mg Mv3gl per litre of wine

Fortified wine
Phenolic characterization

W0

(mg l1 )a

W1

AMG
437.3 21.8 313.3 15.7
Flavan-3-ols oligomers (mg l1 )b 621.51 49.7 645.94 51.7
Red colour A520 c
0.348 0.01 0.364 0.01

W2

W3

W4

293.1 14.7
391.1 19.6 325.7 16.3
529.05 42.3 589.28 47.1 473.03 37.8
0.405 0.011 0.367 0.01 0.369 0.01

W5
221.7 11.1
420.76 33.7
0.458 0.012

All samples were analysed in triplicate. Linear regression curves were used and analysis of SD was performed for every mean. Variance analysis by
ANOVA was performed. a p < 0.01; b p < 0.05; c p < 0.001.

J Sci Food Agric 85:10911097 (2005)

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J Pissarra et al

Similarly, the flavanol oligomers content for these

treatments showed statistically significant differences
between all samples at the p < 0.05 level. The port
wine W5 also revealed the lowest level (420 mg l1 ),
whilst the higher flavanol content was found in samples
W0 and W1 (621 and 645 mg l1 , respectively),
and the flavanol content of the remaining samples
was between these two levels. The evaluation of
the red colour (Abs520 nm ) revealed that the lowest
polyphenolic content corresponded to a more reddish
and darker sample (W5 with higher absorbance values)
and the ethanol sample (W0) had lower red colour
intensity and was also less dark. All the other sample
parameters were found to be between these two levels
and these differences were shown to be significantly
important at the p < 0.001 level.
Effectively, these wine samples showed significant
differences at the p < 0.05 level in all the polyphenolic
parameters studied, suggesting that the wine spirit
composition might be an important factor concerning
the colour contribution and its stabilization.
Among the several group of compounds reported to
occur in wine spirits1 (alcohols, esters and aldehydes),
aldehydes and especially acetaldehyde have been
described in literature to be reactive with anthocyanins
and flavanols, leading to taste and colour changes.3 6
Thus, the aldehyde composition of these five wine
spirits was assessed (Table 2). Acetaldehyde was found
to be responsible for almost the total aldehyde content,
whilst the other aldehydes were present in different
relative amounts. Indeed for spirit 5, acetaldehyde
was responsible for 87.5% of total aldehydes and for
more than 92.5% in the other spirits (14). On the
other hand, spirit 5 contains a much higher amount
of aldehydes, almost 4.6 times superior than the spirit
with the lowest aldehyde content (1).
Since the AMG and flavanol oligomers content
seemed to decrease proportionally with the increase
of the aldehyde content present in the wine spirit,
reactions involving aldehydes, AMG and flavanols are
thought to occur. Effectively, the aldehydes identified
in the wine spirits were already shown to be able
to react with anthocyanins (malvidin 3-glucoside)

Concentration
(expressed in mg Mv3gl per
liter)

500

and flavanols [(+)-catechin (cat)] in model solutions

(conditions similar to the wine) to form new coloured
pigments.17 These newly formed pigments were
identified as being mv3gl and cat adducts linked by an
alkyl/aryl bridge and their max in the UVvis spectrum
revealed a bathchromic shift when comparing with that
of original anthocyanins.17
Apart from the ethyl linked adducts resulting
from the reaction of mv3gl and cat mediated by
acetaldehyde, the other alkyl/aryl adducts have never
been reported in wines, mainly due to the low
aldehyde concentration. In addition, these ethyl linked
adducts are supposed to be unstable in wines and
to be more likely intermediates for the formation of
pyranoanthocyaninflavanol pigments.21,22
The evolution of the AMG content and the red
colour evaluation was followed during 20 months of
bottle ageing (Figs 1 and 2). The ageing period led
to a decrease in the AMG content to levels below
100 mg l1 for all wine samples, as well as an increase
in the red colour parameter. During this period,
the relative order of these two parameters in wines
remained constant. Effectively, sample W5 kept the
lowest AMG content and higher red colour intensity,
while sample W0 kept the highest AMG content
and the lowest red colour intensity. The remaining
Table 2. Aldehyde composition of 5 commercial wine spirits used in
port wine-making. Formaldehyde and isobutyraldehyde were not
detected in these wine spirits

Wine
spirits
1
2
3
4
5

2MB

42.38 ND
74.14 ND
52.90 ND
70.08 ND
185.71 0.22

2.54
0.41
0.69
0.86
5.69

IV

MG

0.26 0.42
0.17 0.61
0.81 0.90
0.74 1.47
4.14 16.34

Total (mg l1 )

0.16
0.02
0.23
0.69
0.08

45.76
75.35
55.53
73.84
212.18

Legend: ND, not detected.

All samples were analysed in triplicate. Linear regression curves were
used, analysis of standard deviation was performed for every mean.
A, acetaldehyde; P, propionaldehyde; 2MB, 2-methylbutyraldehyde;
IV, isovaleraldehyde; MG, methylglyoxal; and B, benzaldehyde

AMG

0
1
2
3
4
5

400
300
200
100
0
5

11
13
15
Months of ageing

17

19

21

Figure 1. Evolution of the AMG content present in the wine samples fortified with five wine spirits (15) and ethanol (0) after 6, 10, 15 and
20 months of bottle ageing.

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J Sci Food Agric 85:10911097 (2005)

Contribution of wine spirit to port wine quality

Red Colour evaluation

Absorbance
(Abs 520)

0.5

0
1
2
3
4
5

0.4

0.3
5

10

15
Months of ageing

20

Figure 2. Evolution of the red colour evaluation of the wine samples fortified with five wine spirits (15) and ethanol (0) after 6, 10, 15 and
20 months of bottle ageing.

samples showed levels between these two. Further

colourimetric discussion will be given in more detail
in the L a b discussion.
After 20 months of bottle ageing, the wine samples
showed significant differences at the p < 0.001 level
in their molecular structure complexity. Indeed, the
wine polyphenol average molecular weight was shown
to have a slight tendency to increase in the samples
made with spirit with higher levels of aldehydes
(Table 3), especially sample W5, which presents
a higher aldehyde content. This outcome was in
agreement with the tannins ability (present in wines)
to react with BSA to form insoluble aggregates,
inducing higher TSA values (Table 3). The TSA
allows characterization of the reactivity of different
polyphenols towards proteins.20,23 BSA has been often
used as a model protein to study the interactions
between polyphenols and proteins, simulating the
phenomena between tannins with salivary proteins
occurring in mouth and responsible for the astringency
sensation. Previous studies had already shown that the
TSA tended to increase with the polyphenol molecular
weight.20,23 The TSA of all treatments evidenced some
differences, but they were not found to be significantly
different (p < 0.1).
Despite not being an initial purpose of this work,
a sensorial evaluation of these wines was performed

by a taste panel composed by 11 panelists with much

experience in port wine tasting. These wines showed
slight differences. Samples W5 and W4 revealed a
more intense colour and taste. The latter probably
resulted from the higher tannin reactivity toward
salivary proteins. Sample W3 showed the opposite
flavour sensation (data not shown).
All these parameters suggest a possible correlation
between the aldehyde content and some organoleptical
properties of these wine samples.

Table 4. Colorimetric characterization after 6, 10, 15 and 20 months

of bottle ageing of the sample wines fortified with ethanol (0) and five
wine spirits (15). The colour parameters were determined for each
sample pairwine spirit (15) and ethanol fortification (0)

Ageing time (months in bottle)

Wine
spirit
0

2
Table 3. Polyphenol molecular weight index and tanning capacity
characterization of the wine samples fortified with five wine spirits
(15) and ethanol (0) after 20 months of bottle ageing

Fortified wine
W0
W1
W2
W3
W4
W5

Polyphenol MW
index (%)a

Tanning capacity
(NTU ml1 )b

27.8 0.4
24.4 0.1
30.5 0.5
32.5 0.1
29.3 0.2
36.5 0.8

32.1 0.4
32.5 0.4
41.7 0.4
36.3 0.4
38.8 0.4
39.2 0.4

All samples were analysed in triplicate and the analysis of SD

was performed for every mean. Variance analysis by ANOVA was
performed. a p < 0.001; b p < 0.1.

J Sci Food Agric 85:10911097 (2005)

Colour
parameters

10

15

20

L
a
b

C

H

L

E

C

H

L

E

C

H

L

E

C

H

L

E

C

H

L

E

66.57
36.98
1.26
0.44
0.19
1.12
1.22
2.42
0.09
3.88
4.57
0.37
0.54
1.52
1.66
1.81
0.59
2.96
3.52
4.87
0.80
7.07
8.63

66.74
34.35
3.46
1.37
0.30
1.93
2.38
3.63
0.30
5.61
6.69
1.10
0.13
2.03
2.31
3.72
0.27
4.75
5.47
3.72
0.27
7.22
8.13

64.67
36.75
6.27
1.18
1.54
2.31
3.02
1.87
1.93
3.89
4.73
1.30
1.13
3.33
3.75
1.76
1.20
4.97
5.41
2.81
1.84
8.04
8.72

63.70
36.99
6.02
0.71
0.23
1.76
1.91
1.90
1.08
4.43
4.94
0.72
0.02
2.04
2.16
1.31
0.35
4.17
4.39
1.53
1.15
6.32
6.61

All samples were analysed in triplicate.

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Chromatic analyses
The wine samples were submitted to chromatic
analysis as described in the Materials and Methods
and the results obtained are summarized in Table 4.
The analysis after 6 months of bottle ageing showed
that the wine samples fortified with the spirit with
higher aldehyde content revealed higher lightness
parameter changes (
L = 7.07, 3.88, 2.96,
1.52 and 1.12 for wines W5, W2, W4, W3 and
W1 respectively), meaning a darkening effect on the
wine samples. The wine samples were also found to
have consistent variations in the hue angle (
H ) and
in the chroma (
C ). Indeed, in the wine samples with
higher aldehyde content, the hue angle was displaced
to higher values (
H = 0.54, 0.19, 0.09, 0.59
and 0.80 for wines W3, W1, W2, W4 and W5,
respectively), meaning that the tonality of each wine
suffered a displacement into redyellowish hues or
showing a yellowing effect. The chroma variation
reflects a change to a more saturated colour of the
wines when they are fortified with higher aldehyde
content present in the respective spirit (
C = 0.37,
0.44, 1.81, 2.42 and 4.87 for wines 3, 1, 4, 2
and 5 respectively). All these colorimetric changes
can be easily evaluated by the analysis of
E ,
the colorimetric difference parameter. Higher
E
values mean stronger colour effects, which can be
represented, in CIE L a b three-dimensional space
by the distance between the two sample points (sample
and reference). All these wine samples, after 6 months
of ageing, revealed perceptible colour differences as
all of them revealed a
E > 1.16,17 Despite slight
differences, this behaviour seemed to be constant for
all samples and during the 20 months, revealing that
the chemical composition of the wine spirits used, and
more probably their aldehyde content, led to changes
in the colorimetric feature of the respective wine.
Smaller colorimetric differences (lower
E values)
were found in the wines with high phenolic content
(data not shown), suggesting that the correct choice
of the spirit to use in port wine-making could be a
powerful tool in enhancing colorimetric characteristics
of some port wines.

CONCLUSION
Concerning the process of port red wine ageing, the
role of the aldehyde composition of the wine spirit used
for fortification of the musts was here focused on for
the first time and seems to be important in achieving
better sensorial properties of red port wine. Indeed, the
wine sample fortified with the wine spirit with higher
aldehyde content was shown to have a more intense
colour and taste, which are two important sensorial
factors in the port wine industry.
Thus, not only grapes and must composition (allied
to climate factors, viticulture practices and terroir
characteristics), but also the wine spirit quality used
in port wine-making (and other enological practices),
are powerful tools to improve port wine quality.
1096

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported by a grant from FCT
(Fundaca o para a Ciencia e TecnologiaPRAXIS
BD/16195/98) and from the Ministerio da Agricultura
(PO.AGRO 265), both from Portugal.

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