Determination of volatile phenols in fino sherry wines

An easy, fast and reliable analytical method is proposed to determine the concentration of volatile phenols (ethyl- and vinylphenols) in fino sherry wines. The technique employed is a single stage sample treatment by solid-phase extraction (SPE) following a simple, fast procedure that enables 12 samples to be extracted simultaneously and requires a small volume sample and little time. Subsequently, the extracts are analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) with flame ionization detection. The method proposed has been applied to the study of fino sherry wines affected by microbial contamination with yeasts of the Brettanomyces genus, and the relationship of these yeasts with the concentrations of volatile phenols present in this wine. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.