Characterization of aged champagne wine aroma by GC-O and descriptive profile analyses

This paper aimed to characterise and compare the changes in champagne aroma with aging, in normal or accelerated conditions (at 40 degrees C), by sens ory, GC-O and GC-MS analyses. Initially, extract representativeness was tes ted by triangle and similarity tests and descriptive profiles were establis hed for young and aged samples by a expert panel. The intensity of floral a nd fruity notes were shown to decrease with aging. Oak and evolution charac ters increased, although there were some other sensory differences between the two aged products. GC-O differences could be related to several phenome na. Three processes were characteristic of normal aging: firstly, the Strec ker reaction of amino acids to produce 3-(methylthio)-1-propanal and ethyl furaneol; secondly, the generation of eugenol, and thirdly, the oxidation o f sensitive flavor compounds such as furaneol. Other processes were also ch aracteristic of accelerated aging: the degradation of unsaturated fatty aci ds to form cis-3-hexenol; the formation of 2,3-butanedione and guaiacol; an d the metabolism of phenylalanine to produce benzaldehyde. So, although com mon types of reactions were present in both aging methods we can conclude t hat champagne heating is not an aging method which is identical to the stan dard technological aging procedure.