Volatile composition of partially fermented wines elaborated from sun dried Pedro Ximénez grapes

In this work, we used a cell immobilisation system consisting of Penicillium chrysogenum fungi (GRAS) bound to the osmotolerant yeast strains Saccharomyces cerevisiae X4 and X5 for the partial fermentation of raisin musts. The resulting wines were compared with others obtained by partial fermentation of musts with free yeasts and with a traditionally produced sweet wine (i.e. without fermentation of the must). The analysis of volatile compounds grouped by aroma series showed the partially fermented musts had a more complex aroma than the traditional wine. Specially prominent among aroma series was that of ripe fruit, followed by the milky and chemical series. The volatiles with the greatest impact on wine aroma as assessed in terms of odour activity were ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate, butyrolactone, isoamyl alcohols, acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate, 2,3-butanediol, acetoin and 2,3-butanedione. A cluster analysis according to the Ward method was performed to assess the similarity between the traditional sweet wine and those obtained by partial fermentation with free and immobilised yeasts revealed small differences between the wines obtained with free and immobilised yeasts, and marked differences between partially fermented and traditionally obtained sweet wine. The wines provided by immobilised yeasts were the most appreciated in the sensory analysis (especially those obtained with X4 yeasts).