Wine distilling

In some of his work, Pliny the Elder (24—79 Ad) wrote of the heating of wine with flames. In the tenth century, the Persian philosopher Avicenna (980—1037 ad) described a distillation stUl. Magister Salemus wrote about "aqua ardens" around 1150 AD. The German alchemist and philosopher, Albertus Magnus (1200—1280 ad), studied wine distillation, made improvements, and wrote a manuscript on the production of aqua ardens. 

M. Heiraiz, G. Reglero, T. Heiraiz and E. Loyola, Analysis of wine distillates made from muscat grapes (Pisco) by multidimensional gas cliromatography and mass spec-ti ometry , J. Agric. Food Chem. 38 1540-1543 (1990). 

As discussed above, cresols are widely distributed natural compounds. They are formed as metabolites of microbial activity and are excreted in the urine of mammals. Various plant lipid constituents, including many oils, contain cresols. Cresols have also been detected in certain foods and beverages such as tomatoes, tomato ketchup, cooked asparagus, various cheeses, butter, oil, red wine, distilled spirits, raw and roasted coffee, black tea, smoked foods, tobacco, and tobacco smoke (Fiege and Bayer 1987). However, very few monitoring data for cresols in food were found in the literature. 

We found approximately 2-4 grams of caprylic, 2-5 grams of capric, and 1-2 grams of lauric acid/100 liters in our experimental continuous still beverage brandies but usually less than 1 gram of each per 100 liters in unaged commercial brandy distillates (II). New commercial brandy distillates made from fortified wine contain less than those distilled from straight dry wine. Distillates from a continuous vacuum column and a pilot pot still also contain less. 

Ethyl Esters of Fatty Acids in Brandy or Wine Distillates, Amer. ]. Enol. Viticult. (1969) 20, 76-85. 

In the final (and earliest) example to be presented in this section, Day et al. [29] utilized SNIF-NMR (individual D H ratios on the methyl and ethyl sites of the ethanol molecule), IRMS (O and D H ratio in the wine water C ratio in the wine distillate) ET-AAS (10 elements) and ICP-AES (Ba only). The concluding section of their paper sums up most of what has been written in this chapter and is strongly recommended for further reading, particularly as it represents possibly one of the earliest publications to describe the use of a multitechnique approach. 

Finally, we would like to emphasize the HS-SPME technique as a very useful tool for evaluating non-polar compounds in traces as shown in Figure 5.2, such as esters like ethyl 9-decenoate or monoterpenes, as well as some norisoprenoids and monoterpenols derivatives such as the ethoxyethers (Carlin, 1998 Versini et al., 1999). HS-SPME efficiency in the higher alcohols quantification was verified by evaluating results with those obtained by direct injection of the wine distillate. 

Brandy is the liquid which is produced on the basis of wine distillate and possesses an alcohol content of at least 36.5-40% by vol. The denomination Cognac is reserved for brandies originating from specific areas of France (Charente etc.). Armagnac which is... 

Alcohol, 96% v/v Curacao Distillate, 52% v/v Wine Distillate, 70% v/v Arrack, 58% v/v Water, demineralised Sugar Syrup, 72.7 w/w Glucose Syrup 42DE... 

Brandies have the special feature that they are prepared by distillation of a wine, generally a grape wine, rather than a beer . The great variety in flavor and qualities of the various brandies originates from the different types of wines distilled, whether the distillation was batch or continuous, and the aging and blending details. 

Intentionally added ethanol, allowed at 0 ppm (i.e.., Wine, distilled spirits)... 

A.—If it be a fittle shaked, oily streaks appear sliding here and there, just as spirit of wine distils down the head of the alembic in streaks like veins. 

Fermentation Products (beer, wine, distilled spirits, malt)... 

Flanzy and Banos (1938) also isolated isopropyl alcohol from the fusel oil of a wine. They calculated that wines contain at least 6.6 mg. per liter. Metra et al, (1938), however, were unable to detect this alcohol in samples from wines or from the heads using a colorimetric procedure reputedly sensitive to 0.01% of this alcohol. They concluded that isopropyl alcohol may be present only in traces, if at all. In the fraction of the heads boiling at 27.8° to 30° C. (82° to 86° F.) only sec-butyl alcohol was found in a wine distillate by Durodie and Roelens (1942) and isopropyl alcohol was not detected. 

Chelle et al. (1936) developed a colorimetric procedure for the determination of acetone in wine distillates. They were able to secure good checks with this procedure, even in the presence of considerable amounts of higher alcohols. Acetone was reported in wines to which commercial ethyl alcohol had been added. No benzaldehyde was found in grapes by Mathers and Schoeneman (1952), but cherries contain significant amounts. During fermentation benzyl alcohol, benzyl, and benzoin are produced from benzaldehyde. A polarigraphic procedure for its determination was developed. 

The identification of lauric acid as one of the characteristic constituents of wine distillates was probably first made by Grossfeld and Miermeister (1928). They reported 5.8, 19.0, and 20.0 mg. per liter in three table wines (or 47.5, 163.8, and 183.4 mg. per liter of alcohol). They also reported 20.5 mg. per liter of caprylic acid (or 198 mg. per liter of absolute alcohol). 

Mallory, G. E., and Love, R. F. 1945. Determination of caramel in wine, distilled spirits, vinegar, and vanilla extract. Ind. Eng. Chem., Anal. Ed. 17, 631-637. 

At least 2-5 years are needed to make dessert wines. In the production of sherry the wine is stored in partially filled butts, i.e. in the presence of excess air. Ror yeasts develop on the wine surface in the form of a continuous film or wine cover (sherry yeast). The typical sherry flavor is derived from the aerobic conditions of maturation. During this time the concentrations of the following compounds increase at the expense of alcohol and volatile acids ethanal, acetals, esters, sotolon (cf. 5.3.1.3) and 2,3-butylene glycol. In port wine production the wine is drawn off to casks before the end of fermentation and is fortified with wine distillates. The fortifying procedure is repeated several times ( multiple addition ) until the desired alcohol content is reached. Sotolon is the key aroma substance of Port wine. Its odor threshold in this wine is 19 pg/1. Its concentration increases linearly during storage. Port stored for one year and for 60 years contained 5 and 958 pg/1 sotolon respectively. 

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