[The assignment of wines to location by determination of trace element patterns (author's transl)]

Classification of German white wines with certified brand of origin by multielement quantitation and pattern recognition techniques

A procedure is proposed for the determination of the authenticity of white wines from four German wine-growing regions (Baden, Rheingau, Rheinhessen, and Pfalz) based on their content of some major, trace, and ultratrace elements. One hundred and twenty-seven white wine samples possessing a certificate of origin, all of the 2000 vintage, were analyzed. The concentrations of 13 elements (Li, B, Mg, Ca, V, Mn, Co, Fe, Zn, Rb, Sr, Cs, and Pb) were determined in wine diluted 1:20 by sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS). Indium was routinely used as internal standard. Supervised pattern recognition techniques such as discriminant analysis and classification trees were applied for the interpretation of the data. A quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA) allowed the four regions to be discriminated with 83% accuracy when using only eight variables (Li, B, Mg, Fe, Zn, Sr, Cs, and Pb), and the prediction ability for classifying new samples was 76%. By use of a second method, a decision tree, the classification of samples coming from the four regions could be performed with an accuracy of 84% when only four elements were used: Li (very low in samples from Baden), Zn (abnormally low in the samples from the Rheingau), and Mg and Sr (both important for the differentiation between Pfalz and Rheinhessen samples). For this method, the prediction ability was only 74% in the identification of unknown samples. The robustness of the QDA model was not good enough, and therefore the tree is better recommended for the classification of new wine samples from these areas of German wine production.

The importance of metallic elements in wine. A literature survey

A review of the current literature concerning the role played by metallic elements present in wine is presented. The aim is to show the importance of these elements in the entire wine-making process, mainly through their influence on the organoleptic properties of wine. The study takes into consideration the individual stages of the process such as fertilization, fermentation and aging and also deals with other interesting aspects related to hygiene and dietetic properties, as well as the possibility of differentiating wines according to their metal contents.

Mineral contents of some southern Italian wines. II. Determination of Li, Na, Mg, K, Ca, Co, As, Rb, Sr, Ag, Sb, Ba

Following our study of the mineral contents of some Southern Italian wines, this work reports on the detection of 12 elemental components. The elements were determined using ICP-AES, flame atomic emission or absorption spectroscopy. The values determined for Li, Na, Mg, K, Ca, Rb, Sr and Ba were within the usual ranges for wines (average values for these elements were: 0.010, 26.2; 94.4; 888; 94.0; 3.30, 0.82 and 0.11 mg/l respectively). All the wines contained low levels of As, the concentrations of which were always under 0.20 mg/l, the maximum level permitted by E.E.C. standards. The measuring of Co, Ag, and Sb led us to ascertain, in all the wines, concentrations lower than 0.01 mg/l for Co and Ag and below the instrumental detection level for Sb (0.06 mg/l). In a previous study wines from D.O.C. areas of Southern Italy were analysed by the technique of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), for 14 minerals. This paper deals with further investigation of the mineral composition of the same wines for different metal constituents, analysed by ICP-AES, flame atomic emission, or atomic-absorption spectroscopy (two techniques). The first technique was applied to the detection of Co, As, Sr, Ag, Sb, and Ba. The alkaline metals Li, Na, K, and Rb were determined by flame atomic emission, a technique which possesses better detection limits for these elements. For Mg and Ca the atomic absorption methods were applied.

Toxic trace metals in food. II. A comparative study of the levels of toxic trace metals in wine by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A new high-performance analytical procedure for the determination of the toxic trace metals cadmium, lead and copper in wines by differential pulse anodic-stripping voltammetry (DPASV) subsequent to UV irradiation of the sample is compared with the hitherto more common application of electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). In this manner also mutually the accuracy attainable with both alternatives has been established. The particularly favourable potentialities of the new voltammetric approach for toxic metal control of wines are demonstrated by the investigation of a typical selection of 36 wines from recent vintages and common vine types of the German and some European wine cultivating regions.

[The application of numerical toxonomy for the classification of wines (author's transl)]

Monovariate and multivariate methods for clustering of wines according to origin, grape variety and vintage year (representing) climate are compared. The multivariate method which is described makes it possible to find similarities especially related to origin and is superior to a monovariate analysis.