Production Method and Wine Style Influence Metal Profiles in Sparkling Wines

The elemental composition of wine provides important information about origin, authenticity, and sensory considerations. Although various wine regions and varieties of still wines have been extensively studied, limited research has evaluated the metal profiles of sparkling wines, which can be produced via the bottle-fermented traditional method (TM) or the tank-fermented Charmat method (CM) in both rosé and non-rosé styles. In this study, 73 commercial sparkling wines from Canada’s Niagara Peninsula were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry to quantify 28 metal ions (silver [Ag], aluminum [Al], arsenic [As], boron [B], barium [Ba], beryllium [Be], calcium [Ca], cadmium [Cd], cobalt [Co], chromium [Cr], copper [Cu], iron [Fe], potassium [K], magnesium [Mg], manganese [Mn], molybdenum [Mo], sodium [Na], nickel [Ni], lead [Pb], antimony [Sb], selenium [Se], tin [Sn], strontium [Sr], titanium [Ti], thallium [Tl], uranium [U], vanadium [V], zinc [Zn]). All metal levels were below internationally regulated maximum limits. Higher mean levels of Cr, Ni, and Sr (0.021 ± 0.008 mg/L, 0.018 ± 0.004 mg/L, and 0.32 ± 0.07 mg/L, respectively) and lower mean levels of B (3.0 ± 0.6 mg/L) were identified in CM compared with TM wines. Cr and Ni are of particular interest because of their association with stainless steel contact during CM production. In addition, the results identified higher mean levels of K (613 ± 153 mg/L) and lower mean levels of Cu (0.034 ± 0.036 mg/L) in rosé wines compared with non-rosé style wines. These results represent the first investigation of metal content in Canadian sparkling wines and identify important elemental differences related to production technique that can inform future authenticity assessments.