Effects of Weather Conditions and Aging on Resveratrol Concentration in Red Wines

Resveratrol (RT) has been suggested to have a protective effect against cardiovascular diseases. We analyzed the concentration of RT in red wine samples at early stages of aging and old vintage wines, by a combination of normal and reverse phase HPLC. Although we have previously reported that RT contents in red wine samples, made from eight grapevines grown in Hokkaido, Japan, after malolactic fermentation were generally higher than those measured at the end of alcoholic fermentation, the increasing level of RT in the wines was shown to continue until 8 months after malolactic fermentation accompanied by a decrease in piceid (RT glucoside) probably due to β-glucosidase