Enzymes as potential markers of wine aging

Abstract

There is no analytical method currently available in Spain to determine elapsed time in wine aging. The only control used is based on the levels of esters and other secondary metabolites as important indicators related to wine quality. The main goal of this work was to establish a useful method to differentiate among young, "crianza", "reserva" and "gran reserva" wines based on the study of the enzymatic decay of different hydrolases present in the wines and also to determine which enzyme(s) may be applicable in fraud detection as regards time and storage conditions of the wine. We elaborated red wine based on "Tempranillo" grapes from the Rioja Alta Alavesa and fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae USC 013, followed by malolactic fermentation by Oenococcus oeni CECT 630 in order to evaluate the different enzymes. One of the enzymes present, i.e., invertase, which is resistant to inactivation, could be a useful marker of wine aging.