The Oxidative Stability of Champagne Base Wines Aged on Lees in Barrels: A 2-Year Study

In contrast with the elaboration of still wines, the impact of barrel aging before the “prise de mousse” on the aging potential of Champagne base wines has not been studied so far. In the present study, the oxidative stability and related molecular fingerprints of Chardonnay Champagne base wines wer...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Charlotte Maxe, Rémy Romanet, Michel Parisot, Régis D. Gougeon, Maria Nikolantonaki
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-03-01
Series:Antioxidants
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/13/3/364
Description
Summary:In contrast with the elaboration of still wines, the impact of barrel aging before the “prise de mousse” on the aging potential of Champagne base wines has not been studied so far. In the present study, the oxidative stability and related molecular fingerprints of Chardonnay Champagne base wines were reported after 1 year of on lees ageing in new oak barrels for two consecutive vintages. Regardless of the vintage, on lees ageing in new oak barrels improved the wines’ oxidative stability estimated by DPPH assay at 1 year, while UHPLC-Q-ToF-MS molecular profiling showed clear chemical modifications according to the ageing period. Oak wood molecular ellagitannins followed a linear extraction during barrel ageing for both vintages. However, the wines’ antioxidant metabolome composed by antiradical and nucleophilic compounds clearly appeared vintage- and barrel-aging dependent. These results enrich the understanding of white wines antioxidant metabolome and improve the knowledge of the ageing potential of Chardonnay Champagne base wines by integrating vintage- and barrel-ageing effects.
ISSN:2076-3921