The Interplay of Bottle Storage and Wood Ageing Technology: Volatile and Sensory Profiles of Wine Spirits Aged with Chestnut Wood

Abstract

Wine spirits are typically aged in wooden barrels. Recently, alternative ageing technologies, such as those using wood fragments in wine spirits stored in stainless steel tanks, have been investigated. However, a significant lack of information regarding the potential evolution of these beverages after bottling still remains. This study assessed the 12-month evolution of aroma in bottled wine spirits aged with chestnut wood using different technologies, including fragment application with several micro-oxygenation strategies and barrels (traditional). Chemical analysis using GC-FID and GC–MS methods, along with sensory analysis, was conducted on all sampled aged wine spirits. Significant changes in volatile compounds were detected over time, including volatile phenols, acids, and esters. Multivariate data analysis distinguished traditional and alternative aged samples, with slight sample discrimination based on bottle storage. Regarding the sensory results, a significant effect of the time in bottle in several sensory attributes was found, while the ageing technologies mainly affected the gustatory attributes. The tasters were also asked to rate the overall quality of the samples, which seems to be favoured by the time in the bottle. This initial assessment of the impact of 1 year of glass bottle storage on the volatile and sensory composition of aged wine spirits highlights that this stage must be considered as an additional technological factor in their production process. However, the differences induced by the wood ageing technologies applied remained evident after 1 year of glass bottle storage.