Behavior of monosaccharides, phenolic compounds, and color of red wines aged in used oak barrels and in the bottle

A red wine with appropriate basic quality characteristics for aging was stored in oak barrels for 12 months and then bottled and aged for a further 6 months. The same ambient conditions of temperature and humidity were maintained throughout the entire aging process. The barrels used were made from three different species of oak by four different cooperages and had been used for at least two years. Analysis of variance and principal component analysis were run on the values for hexoses, pentoses, total anthocyanins, ortho-diphenols, low- and high-polymer polyphenols, and color parameters to study the behavior of the monosaccharides and polyphenols in response to the factors of aging time, the oak variety employed, and the source cooperage where the barrels had been made. Time trends for all the phenolic components were directly related to aging time, with low-polymeric polyphenols (LPPs) being the most affected by wood type and source cooperage. Wine color was defined by a basic red color which decreased with aging time in the barrel and was altered by yellowish pigment components differing for each of the barrels in which oxidative aging took place and by increased stability of the blue copigments. Principal component analysis showed that samples of the same source wine aged in different barrels tended to be grouped together according to Each of the aging intervals considered.