Blends of wood chips from oak and cherry: impact on the general phenolic parameters and sensory profile of a white wine during the aging process

Abstract

Today, there is a restricted knowledge about the potential impact of the use of different wood chip species on the white wine aging process. This lack of knowledge is even greater when wood species are used in blends of different species. Thus, the aim was to carry out a comparative analysis of the impact of different blends of wood chip species, involving oak and cherry wood, on different phenolic and color parameters, browning potential index and sensory profile of a white wine during the aging process. During the aging time studied, the use of wood chips induced an increase of wine phenolic content and color intensity, particularly in wines aged in contact with cherry wood chips alone or in blends with oak wood chips. A similar tendency was also detected for browning potential index. Regarding the sensorial results, the use of different wood chip species has an impact on the increase of "woody aroma" for the wines aged with oak wood chip species and also an increase of "body" and "astringency" descriptors for the wines aged with oak chips alone or blended with cherry chips. This work advances our understanding of the impact of different wood chip species separately or by the use of blends on white wine quality.