JavaScript is disabled. Please enable to continue!
Print this page

Save this page as a PDF

Mobile search icon
Menu
Food Testing >> Blog >> Wine Testing
Search >>

Wine Testing

Sidebar Image

  1. Introduction

Wine is an alcoholic beverage derived from fermented grapes. Fruits that have been fermented are also used to make fruit wines, often known as country wines. Table grapes are derived from Vitis Lambrusca or other species, but the majority of wine grapes are Vitis vinifera species. The two are very different from one another. (1) Epidemiologic studies from many different groups show that people with the habit of daily moderate wine intake have considerable decreases in all-cause mortality, particularly cardiovascular mortality. Researchers are attempting to provide a biological and dietary explanation for this finding. Any form of beverage containing moderate amounts of ethanol enhances lipoprotein metabolism and lowers the risk of cardiovascular mortality. (2)

  1. Composition

Water (85%) and ethanol (between 8 and 16% for non-fortified wines) make up the majority of wine. The remaining 3% is what differentiates all wines, and it is this that remains. These 3% are composed of phenolics, glycerol, other alcohols, amino acids, minerals, residual sugars, organic acids, residual sugars, aromatics, and sulfites. The majority of the ingredients in wine are produced when wine yeasts turn grape juice into wine. The only exceptions are a few additives, which are hopefully only put in trace amounts to preserve the valuable 3%'s delicate balance. (3)

  1. Types of wine

There are mainly two types of grape wines which is made from Black grapes and white grapes (green grapes). There are several wine varieties and mixes made from the hundreds of varieties of grapes needed to manufacture various types of wines. The wine location, tannins, sweetness, acidity, body, and flavours are just a few other elements that affect a wine's character.

Types of wines are the following: (4)

Red wines: Black grapes are used to make red wines, which are then fermented with the grape skins, seeds, and stems to give the wine its distinctive red colour. Red wine has a lot of tannins, which leave your tongue feeling dry and harsh after drinking it.

White wines: Both white and black grapes are used to make white wines. White wine is not fermented with grape skins, instead the skins are removed, leaving only the crystal-clear grape juice. Few tannins exist in white wine but it is the acidic character that defines its crisp, fresh, and tart flavours.

Rose wines: Rosé is a wine distinguished by its pink or blush colour. Black grape juice ferments with the skins for only a little period of time—from a few hours to a few days—until the juice takes on this attractive colour. It has fewer tannins than white wine, however some rosés are dry. Because of its light, sweet flavour, rosé is a popular crowd-pleaser, especially at summertime parties.

Sparkling wines: Since sparkling wines are carbonated, they are sometimes known as "bubbly" wines. Black and white grapes are used to make sparkling wines, and carbon dioxide is a by-product of fermentation that occurs naturally. The most popular sparkling wine is champagne, which is frequently served at special occasions like weddings and New Year's.

Fortified wines: Wines that have brandy or other distilled spirits added to them during fermentation are known as fortified wines. The lower alcohol content wines are referred to as dessert wines and are also associated with desserts because these wines are sweetened by the alcohol.

  1. FSSAI Regulations (5)

  • These regulations define Indian Brandy, low alcohol beverages, wines, and wine-based beverages as well as the tolerance limit (alcohol by volume-abv) of ethyl alcohol content.
  • By July 1, 2021, all of these rules' requirements must be met by food business operators (FBOs).

Tolerance Limit: According to these laws, the tolerance level for ethyl alcohol concentration for products up to 20% alcohol by volume (ABV) is 0.3% (-0.5% for products up to 90 ml per bottle), and for products over 20% alcohol by volume (ABV), it is 1.0% (-1.5%) of the claimed strength. The tolerance limit for wine shall be 0.5.

Limits for Different types of wines

  • Dry Wine, which is a wine that contains up to 0.9 per cent sugar,
  • Sparkling wine including Brut, Extra Dry, Dry, Semi Dry and Sweet based on sugar content and
  • Fortified Wine, which is a wine with high alcohol content achieved by the addition of alcohol (brandy or wine spirits or neutral spirit of agricultural origin) provided a minimum 7 .0 per cent comes from fermentation of grapes, grape must and fruits and used as aperitif or dessert wine.
  • Fortified wine may be red or white, dry or sweet.

Labelling: FBOs must, as required by

  • Identify the country or state of origin of the wine,
  • The range of sugar,
  • The generic name of the grape or fruit variety used in descending order of quantity or raw material used,
  • The vintage year, if such claims are made,
  • The name of residues of preservatives or additives present as such, or in their modified forms, in the final product, and declare the name of the place, region, sub-region, or appellation, if 75% of the grapes used were from the same region.

Labelling Caution: For packages up to 200 ml in size, the statutory warning must be no smaller than 1.5 mm; for packages

  1. Testing Methods

  • To characterise wine and detect fraud, more advanced chemical analytical techniques are applied.
  • Wine acidity can be measured by titration and monitored by photometry.
  • An enzymatic technique can quantify glycerol, which contributes to the overall sweetness and "mouthfeel" of wine.
  • You can quantify acetaldehyde enzymatically or by LC. This essential colour stabiliser cross-links with anthocyanins to deepen the colour.
  • Sulphite, a crucial preservative, can be identified by either direct photometry or flow injection analysis.
  • Ion chromatography is particularly adapted to the detection of organic acids, while atomic absorption spectrophotometry, ICP-MS, or ICP-OES can be used to directly assess possible metal impurities, such as copper, zinc, and iron, which can impair shelf life and taste.
  • GC-MS or LC-MS/MS are used to measure pesticides.
  • GC/MS, which has historically been used to identify pesticides, is now an important technology to support professional evaluation of wine taste.

 Detecting "Wine Fraud" in the Laboratory: Stable isotope ratio analysis (SIRA), though traditional analytical techniques like GC/MS, LC-MS/MS, and ICP-MS can offer a detailed examination of wine compositions that can be used for fraud detection, has proved particularly effective in this regard.

Grape & Geographic Origin Verification:

These hydrogen atoms in methylene are likewise strongly tied to the grapes' climatic and geographic origins. Wine authenticity can be accomplished using 1H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR) analysis since it gives quantitative and highly repeatable data. For grape variety verification or other special challenges of authenticity like geographic origin, the combination of 1H-NMR fingerprinting (profiling) and multivariate analysis ("Wine screener") has previously demonstrated promising results. (6)

  1. Eurofins Advantage

Eurofins India offers wine testing to detect organic contaminants, and other quality parameters like alcohol, aldehydes, tannins, vitamins, shelf-life, and sensory analyses as per the specifications of FSSAI and IS3752. The complete nutritional profiling is done within 7 days.

Quality parameters:

Wine has to be certified for the following parameters:

Heavy metal analysis (Mandatory under PFA GSR No. 685(E) dated 26/08/2003)

Pesticide residues (Mandatory under PFA GSR No. 685(E) dated 26/08/2003)

Especially for wine testing, Eurofins have patents for SNIF-NMR® - the official method of analysis for a variety of organizations, including the European Union (EU) and the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) for wine.

References

  1. https://cellar.asia/wine/what-is-wine/
  2. The health benefits of wine by J B German
  3. https://sommelierbusiness.com/en/articles/wine-technical-84/wine-basic-composition
  4. https://corkbeard.com/blogs/news/wine-101-what-are-the-different-types-of-wine
  5. https://www.fssai.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/Compendium_Alcoholic_Beverages_Regulations
  6. https://www.elgalabwater.com/blog/analytical-chemistry-wine
  7. https://www.eurofins.in/food-testing/services/alcoholic-beverages/