Relationships between the varietal volatile composition of the musts and white wine aroma quality. A four year feasibility study

In this work, the harvest variability of the varietal composition of Fernão-Pires grape variety was evaluated using a dichloromethane liquid–liquid continuous extraction followed by GC-qMS of the free (F) and potential varietal components (PVC) from the musts across four harvests (1998, 1999, 2000, and 2002). This study showed that Fernão-Pires musts exhibited varietal volatile composition variability along the years. Based on the data obtained, using GC-qMS in tandem with PCA, relationships were established between the varietal volatile composition of the musts and the white wine aroma quality classification conferred by the official wine taster chamber. The results of the volatile analyses were consistent with the wine quality classification, indicating that the wine aroma quality is clearly associated with the musts free varietal volatile composition. On the other hand, the PVC fraction allowed the distinction of the musts according to the composition of potential aroma precursors. The proposed approach can provide information to winemakers concerning the winemaking methodologies that can be implemented to improve the varietal wine aroma quality.