Odor Descriptors and Aromatic Series During the Oxidative Aging of Oloroso Sherry Wines

Abstract

The aroma of Oloroso sherry wines obtained by industrial oxidative aging was studied by gas chromatography-olfactometry analysis. The aromagram exhibited five different odorant zones (OZ) separated by no-odor intervals of at least 6 min, in which no odor was detected. Based on the perceived aroma frequency the most distinctive series for OZ1 was fruity. The OZ2 and OZ3 were mainly represented by chemical and fatty series, respectively, and the spicy and empyreumatic series were the most representative for the OZ4 and OZ5, although exhibiting few notes. Except for the vegetable, floral, and empyreumatic series, the remainder increased the number of odorant notes perceived during aging.