Study on sensory and composition changes in Italian amarone valpolicella red wine during aging

Amarone is a red wine produced with a technique already known to the ancient Romans, based on withered grapes and a slow fermentation. Amarone is now considered to be one of the great Italian wines and it is exported all over the world. Sensory and compositional analyses were carried out to describe the profile of the Amarone over four vintages (1998-2001) at different stages of aging. All wines were analyzed for titratable and volatile acidity, pH, alcohol content, residual sugars, t-resveratrol, antioxidant power, color, tonality, total polyphenols and anthocyans. Twelve trained people evaluated aroma and flavor attributes of all the wines in triplicate in a sensory session. Principal component analysis (PCA) of chemical, physical and sensory data for Amarone wine allowed us to highlight the differences between the wines. In general, the 1998 and 1999 vintages had higher aroma and flavor of Wood and Alcohol than the 2000 vintage, which, on the other hand, had higher aroma and flavor of Liquor and Cherry in alcohol. In contrast, the younger wine (2001 vintage) was the more Astringent and had many polyphenols and anthocyans, distinctive features for a red wine that has been in the cask for a short time.