A standard red wine: Monomeric phenolic analysis of commercial cabernet sauvignon wines

Quantitative data on the concentration of phenolic compounds in a large, re presentative sample of widely consumed commercial red wines have been lacki ng. The 21 highest volume Cabernet Sauvignon wines, representing 17% of all red wines sold in US supermarkets (and over two million 9-L cases), were s elected based on 1995 WINESCAN data reports. The wines were analyzed using a HPLC method with a ternary solvent system to achieve separation of all mo nomeric phenols and anthocyanins, and the total phenolic content by Folin-C iocalteau reagent was determined. The levels of each compound were then ave raged using a weighting factor determined by each wine's representative vol ume to create a weighted average. These results were then compared to five ultra-premium (UP), commercially available Cabernet Sauvignons noted for th eir aging potential; the UP wines had significantly higher phenolic levels. The wines were also analyzed for their pH, titratable acidity, volatile ac idity, free and total sulfur dioxide, alcohol, malic acid, glucose, and fru ctose using standard methods. Based on this data analysis, a standard Caber net Sauvignon wine with typical phenolic levels is proposed.