Monitoring wine aging with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR)

Oak wood has commonly been used in wine aging but recently other wood types such as Acacia and Chestnut, have attracted the interest of the researchers due to their possible positive contribution to wine quality. However, only the use of oak and chestnut woods is approved by the International Enological Codex of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine. In this study Fourier Transform (FT)-mid-infrared spectroscopy combined with Discriminant Analysis was used to differentiate wines aged in barrels made from French oak, American oak, Acacia and Chestnut and in tanks with oak chips, over a period of 12 months. Two red (Mandilaria, Kotsifali) and two white (Vilana, Dafni) native Greek grape varieties where used to produce four wines. The Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectra of the samples were recorded on a Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) window after incubation at 40 degrees C for 30 min. A complete differentiation of the samples according to both the type of wood used and the contact time was achieved based on their FT-IR spectra.