Flint glass bottles cause white wine aroma identity degradation

Due to marketing recommendations, white wines are often bottled in flint glass to improve aesthetics and showcase wine color. Although this practice is known to cause a wine fault, the influence of light on the fruity and flowery aromatic profile of wine is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes to the white wine volatilome under typical supermarket shelf conditions, using 1,052 bottles of 24 white wines. After only 7 d of shelf life in flint glass bottles, a dramatic loss in terpenes (10 to 30%) and norisoprenoids (30 to 70%) was recorded, whereas colored glass bottles did not evidence such behavior even after 50 d, and darkness preserved the wine's fruity and flowery aromatic integrity. We also proposed an alternative mechanism for the insurgence of the lightstrike off-odor, which takes the varietal aroma loss into account. In light of this understanding of the flint glass negative impact on white wine aroma identity and sensorial character, this packaging should be strongly discouraged. The same findings should be valid for a wide range of several daily consumed foodstuff where transparent packaging is used.

出于营销推广的考量，白葡萄酒通常灌装于燧石玻璃(flint glass)瓶中，以提升外观美观度并展现葡萄酒的色泽。尽管已知这种包装方式会引发葡萄酒瑕疵，但光照对白葡萄酒果香与花香类香气特征的影响仍未明确。本研究旨在借助24款白葡萄酒的1052瓶样品，探究典型超市货架环境下白葡萄酒挥发组(volatilome)的变化情况。仅在燧石玻璃瓶中放置7天货架期后，样品中的萜烯类(terpenes)与降异戊二烯类(norisoprenoids)化合物便出现了显著流失（分别流失10%~30%与30%~70%）；而有色玻璃瓶即便放置50天也未出现此类现象，避光环境则完整保留了白葡萄酒的果香与花香香气完整性。本研究还提出了一种全新的光诱导异味(lightstrike off-odor)产生机制，该机制将品种香气流失纳入考量范畴。鉴于燧石玻璃包装对白葡萄酒香气特征与感官品质的负面影响，我们强烈不建议使用此类包装。该研究结论同样适用于大量使用透明包装的日常食用食品品类。