Changes in aromatic compounds of cabernet sauvignon wines during ageing in stainless steel tanks

The influence of age on the volatile composition of cabernet sauvignon red wines, aged in stainless steel tanks during different years was studied. For this purpose, the evolution of volatile compounds: alcohols, esters, fatty acids, aldehydes and ketones, of the four wines were determined using headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS). Quantitatively, alcohols formed the most abundant group in the aromatic components of the four wines studied, followed by esters and acids. The sum of the individual aroma compounds studied increased progressively, and the compounds that changed significantly were alcohols and esters. The profiles of all the aroma compounds for cabernet sauvignon wines were increasingly diverse. The ability to distinguish the aroma of the four wines was probably due to the dominance of alcohols, ethyl esters of fatty acids, and their contributions to the global aroma.Key words: Cabernet sauvignon, stainless steel tanks, aromatic compounds, headspace/solid-phase microextraction, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS)