The aromatic effect of using different types of sugar and MCR in sparkling wines
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Description
The attention of oenologists and consumers is increasingly focused on the traceability of all products in the agri-food chain, in order to be able to define more precisely the characteristics of each key factor in the production process, and therefore the specific contribution to wine quality. This objective will be reinforced by the gradual introduction of labelling for wines and wine products, which will have to converge with the standards applicable to foodstuffs and beverages.
The sugars used in refermentation are essential ingredients in the sparkling wine production process. For these applications, international oenology has turned to some of the most widely used crystalline sugars in food production, sugar beet and sugar cane. Italy has followed a different path, focusing on the use of sugars of viticultural origin, mainly concentrated must and rectified concentrated must (MCR).
The research carried out by Naturalia Ingredients has renewed the approach to grape sugars, succeeding in obtaining a crystalline solid version of grape sugar (MCR). This is a product of absolute purity, allowing great precision in its oenological use, which has been the subject of several experiments, both in the laboratory and in the cellar, supported by advanced instrumental analyses (GCxGC-ToF-MS) and rigorous sensory panels.
This report describes the results of several research campaigns which demonstrated the presence of certain chemical and microbiological contaminations in RCM, potentially harmful to wine, and which showed that crystalline grape sugar has superior chemical and microbiological purity and remarkable stability over time. This makes crystalline grape sugar the ingredient of choice for the production of quality sparkling wines. An ingredient that ‘doesn't show’, but can make all the difference, because the choice of its use is geared towards maximum respect for the native quality of the raw material, thus avoiding contamination of the base wine during the foaming process.
