Oenological perspective of red wine astringency

Abstract

Abstract Red wine is a complex matrix and its organoleptic characteristics are affected by a high complexity of wine compounds, namely polyphenols. One of the most important sensations and also a quality attribute of red wine is astringency. Along the years the major mechanism proposed to astringency perception is the interaction and precipitation of salivary proteins (in particular proline-rich proteins) by red wine polyphenols, namely tannins. Furthermore, it is also known that this interaction is affected by other red wine compounds such as carbohydrates. The polyphenolic composition of red wine could be modified by modulation of the several oenological steps. Hence, the modulation of oenological steps could allow modulation of astringency and/or astringency sub-qualities. Crucial oenological steps include ripening, maceration and fermentation stabilization (fining), filtration and aging. Along this review, the influence of these oenological processes in wine polyphenolic composition is systematically revised converging in how it affects astringency from an oenological perspective.

Keywords

• salivary proteins-wine tannins interaction
• proline-rich proteins
• wine carbohydrates
• ripening
• maceration
• fermentation
• stabilization (fining)
• filtration
• aging