Impact of skin contact time, oak and tannin addition on the chemical composition, color stability and sensory profile of Merlot wines made from flash détente treatment

The ability to create differentiated red wine styles is key to meeting the diverse preferences of wine consumers. This study investigated the composition and style of Merlot wines made from flash détente (FD) treated must fermented with different levels of grape solids and skin contact time, and the potential for pre-fermentation addition of enotannin (0.4 g/L) or oak chips (4 g/L) to stabilize color. Off-skins fermentations, with or without addition of enotannin, gave wines with enhanced red fruit and confectionery characters (P = 0.0001), whereas addition of oak chips gave wines with prominent dark fruit, vanilla, toasty and allspice characters (P = 0.0001). However, additives did not improve wine color stability. Macerative fermentation of FD must enhanced dark fruit, body and astringency ratings (P = 0.0001), with FD wines exhibiting less intense green, savory and dusty notes (P = 0.0001). The study demonstrated solids removal had a greater influence on wine composition and style than skin contact time.