Origins of the sweetness derived from the aging of dry wines: the role of oak triterpenoids

Abstract

Aging in barrel affects the sensory characteristics of wines and modifies the sweet taste in particular. Using an inductive approach, several sweet triterpenes, QTTs, have been identified in oak. Quantitative analysis has shown a significant species effect: sessile oak releases more sweet triterpenes while pedunculate oak is richer in bitter triterpenes. It is now possible to differentiate the two species on the basis of their triterpene composition.