Volatile compounds as markers of ageing in Tempranillo red wines from La Mancha D.O. stored in oak wood barrels

Solid-phase extraction cartridges (SPE)-GC/MS method was used to analyse red wines aromas. The matrix effect was studied with chemicals standard prepared in synthetic wines with water/alcohol solutions (12% ethanol, v/v) following the procedure proposed. The method offers good reproducibility since the relative standard deviations (RSD%) for the volatile compounds levels were less than 9%. This method was used to differentiate the aroma of one hundred mono-varietal young, crianza, reserva and gran reserva La Mancha D.O. wines (cv. Tempranillo) on the basis of oak barrel contact period. Samples were checked at ten time points over 36 months. Sixty important wine odorants, such as volatile phenols, vanillin derivatives, lactones, norisoprenoids, benzene compounds, esters and terpenols, can be quantitatively determined in a single run. Results showed significant quantitative differences in the volatile profiles of wines depending on the length of time in contact with wood, even in wines belonging to the same commercial category. Stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR) was used to obtain a model that predicted the time of barrel ageing to which wines were submitted in relation with the wine volatile composition. A successful function based on eight compounds with a mean deviation of 0.37 months in the predictions, was obtained.