H NMR Spectroscopy with Multivariate Statistical Analysis as a Tool for a Rapid Screening of the Molecular Changes Occurring During Micro- Oxygenation of an Italian Red Wine

A red wine from Aglianico vine was subjected to a micro-oxygenation procedure for five weeks. The wine was weekly sampled together with a non micro-oxygenated control and extracted with di-ethyl-ether in order to simplify NMR analyses. In fact, 1 H NMR spectra of the whole wine samples were dominated by water and ethanol signals which prevented visibility of the resonances generated by the less concentrated wine components. The 1 H NMR analyses of the diethyl-ether extracts revealed an increase of the amount of oxygen-containing materials. Such increase was attributed to a wine ageing process which resulted, hence, fastened by application of micro-oxygenation.