The determination of grape amino acids, excluding yeast nutrients, has been routinely performed for some time, however, from an enological point of view its potential role in the sensory properties of wine has been largely ignored.

Recently, the presence of amino acids, in particular proline, has been studied by NMR in more than 1,000 wines, mainly Australian, which has shown a much wider range of concentrations than previously known, values that are also related to the variety and the production area.

In this study, the relationship between residual proline concentration and wine texture was demonstrated. The ability of proline to increase sweetness, fruitiness and viscosity indices was demonstrated, along with its potential to reduce bitterness and astringency, while glutamic acid was shown to impart a salty/umami flavor to Shiraz wine.

In his presentation at Enoforum, Damian Nandorfy will show these interesting results on wine amino acids and in particular proline and how it can act as a main modulator of the sensory properties of dry red wine, explaining phenomena such as “fruit sweetness”, “soft tannins” and overall taste intensity especially in wines from warmer climates.

has the current menu Paragraph