FRACTIONATION AND DETERMINATION OF OLIGOM ERIC PROCYANIDINS FROM GRAPES AND WINES - RELATIONSHIP WITH WINE QUALITY

Six samples of grapes and their corresponding monovariety wines were a nalysed and their procyanidin contents were determined. Two varieties, merlot noir and cabernet sauvignon, which are the most used and repre sentative of the Bordeaux vineyard, were selected. First, a method to separate the phenolic constituents of the skins, seeds and wine was de veloped, using low pressure liquid chromatography, The relative procya nidin composition was then precisely determined by HPLC and identified by mass spectrometry, in order to verify if the procyanidin content c an participate in the characterization of these two varieties. In fact , the characteristics due to the terroir were much more important than those of the variety: the ''terroir effect'' seems to influence the p henolic characterization of red wine more than the ''variety effect''. From these observations, terroirs which are better suited for product ion of quality wine can be identified.