Sherry wines

Sotolon (4,5-dimethyl-3-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone) and solerone (4-acetyl- y-butirrolactone) were claimed to be responsible for some aroma characteristic of flor sherries wines. These compounds are present only as traces, and are chemically unstable. A system of two gas chromatographs coupled with a four-port switching valve was used to quantitate these components without previous fractionation. The first chromatograph was equipped with an on-column injector, in order to avoid thermal degradation of sotolon in the heated injector, a DB-5 column and an FID. The second chromatograph was equipped with an on-column injector, a DB-1701 column and an FID. The method allowed quantification of solerone and sotolon at concentrations as low as a few ppb (29). 

Fabios, M. et ak. Phenolic compounds and browning in sherry wines subjected to oxidative and biological aging, J. Agric. Food Chem., 48, 2155, 2000. 

Guillen, D.A., Barroso, C.G., and Perez-Bustamante, J.A., Automation of sample preparation as a preliminary stage in the high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of polyphenolic compounds in sherry wines, J. Chromatogr. A, 730, 39, 1996. 

Invented in 1527, laudanum, a designation for a number of products containing opium, iiquor, and a variety of other ingredients, was the most popuiar form of opium consumption in the West. Of all the laudanum products available, the most popular was a brand called Sydenham s Laudanum, which contained one pound of sherry wine, two ounces of opium, one ounce of saffron, one ounce of powder of cinnamon, and one ounce of powder of cloves. Its popularity stemmed from the sweetness of the sherry undercutting the natural bitterness of opium. For more than 400 years, this method of opium drinking remained widespread among Western nations. 

Abstract Sherry wines are among the most distinctive Spanish wines, mainly... 

Sherry wines are obtained from young wines, carefully selected soon after completing fermentation. These are typically fortified by adding vinous alcohol until they reach an alcohol content of 15-15.5°. They are subsequently transferred to oak barrels before being aged. In most sherries, wine aging occurs in the so-called solera and criaderas system under the flor film of yeast. Once alcoholic fermentation is finished, races of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that can grow on the surface of the wine switch from fermentative to oxidative (respiratory) metabolism. They spontaneously form a biofilm called flor on the wine surface. 

FIGURE 2.1 Scheme of the main steps of the biological aging of sherry wines. 

IV. CHANGES IN THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF SHERRY WINES DURING THE BIOLOGICAL AND OXIDATIVE AGING... 

The production of sherry wines is mainly characterized by a long aging period (from 5 to 12 years, depending on the style) in oak casks, the use of a limited number of white grape varieties (cv. Palomino for dry sherry, and Pedro Ximenez and Muscat for sweet sherries) fermented under... 

Some of the most important chemical changes that occur during the biological and /or oxidative aging of sherry wines are reviewed below. 

V. AROMA AND SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS OF SHERRY WINES EVOLUTION DURING AGING... 

Baron, R., Mayen, M., Merida, J., and Medina, M. (1997). Changes in phenolic compounds and browning during biological aging of sherry wine.. Agric. Food Chem. 45,1682-1685. 

Botella, M. A., Perez-Rodriguez, L., Domecq, B., and Valpuesta, V. (1990). Amino acid content of Fino and Oloroso sherry wines. Am. ]. Enol. Vitic. 41,12-15. 

Charpentier, C., Dos Santos, A. M., and Feuillat, M. (2004). Release of macromolecules by Saccharomyces cerevisiae during aging of flor Sherry wine "vin jaune". Int. ]. Food Microbiol. 96, 253-262. 

Esteve-Zarzoso, B., Peris-Toran, M. J., Garcia-Maiquez, E., Uruburu, F., and Querol, A. (2001). Yeast population dynamics during the fermentation and biological aging of Sherry wines. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67, 2056-2061. 

Estrella, I., Alonso, E., and Revilla, E. (1987). Presence of flavonol aglycones in Sherry wines and changes in their content during aging. Z. Lebensm. Unters. Forsch. 184, 27-29. 

Garcia-Moreno, M. V. and Garcia-Barroso, C. (2002). Comparison of the evolution of low molecular weight phenolic compounds in typical Sherry wines Fino, Amontillado, and Oloroso. J. Agric. Food Chem. 50, 7556-7563. 

Moreno, J. A., Zea, L., Moyano, L., and Medina, M. (2005). Aroma compounds as markers of the changes in sherry wines subjected to biological aging. Food Control 16, 333-338. 

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