Importance of chip selection and elaboration process on the aromatic composition of finished wines.

The evolution of volatile compounds extracted from wood while being macerated for 1 month with four different commercial chips (different geographical origins and toasting degrees) was studied. Furthermore, the effect of the microoxygenation process between alcoholic and malolactic fermentation also was studied. The wood volatile compounds in wines macerated with the four types of chips evolved in the same way. However, the amounts of compounds extracted depended on the type of chip used. There were differences in the levels of vanillin, cis-whiskey lactone, furfural, trans-isoeugenol, and cis-isoeugenol in wines in accordance with the type of wood chips (French or American), and the last two compounds along with 5-methyl furfural presented differences that were directly related to the toast level. However, no effects of microoxygenation treatment on the extraction of volatile compounds extracted from chips were observed. Therefore, the results obtained in this study highlight the importance of chip selection on the aromatic characteristics of finished wines.