Some Neutral Aroma Components of Wines of Vitis Vinifera Variety Carignane

¹ Departments of Chemistry and of Viticulture and Enology, University of California, Davis
² Chemistry Department, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston.

A methylene chloride extract of a young, glass-only-aged wine of Vitis vinifera variety 'Carignane' was found to contain the following volatile aroma compounds: 3-methyl-l-butanol, 3-methyl-l-pentanol, ethyl lactate, ethyl 3-hydroxybutyrate, levo-2,3-butanediol monoacetate, diethyl succinate, ethyl 4- hydroxybutyrate, diethyl malate, ethyl 2-hydroxy-3- phenylpropionate, -butyrolactone, 4-carboethoxy-4- hydroxybutyric acid -lactone, 4R:5R and 4S:5S 4,5- dihydroxyhexanoic acid -lactone, and 4R:5S and 4S: 5R 4,5-dihydroxyhexanoic acid -lactone. A volatile component, identified for the first time from wines by infrared and mass spectrometry and by coincidence of gas chromatographic retention times, is 3-hydroxy-4-phenylbutan-2-one. A number of substances present in trace amounts and the isolated acids were not identified.