When applied to the compositional analysis of wine, including naturally occurring compounds, additives and contaminants, analytical chemistry plays an important role in ensuring both the quality of the wine and consumer safety. The notorious 1985 glycol-doping scandal of Austrian and German wines is a prime example.
However, wine presents a complex matrix: Flavors, sugars, carboxylic acids, tannins, phenols, amino acids, alcohols, esters and acetates are among the many typical wine constituents, and many more are present as unwanted contaminants that must be monitored. The composition and ratio of constituents combine to give each wine its unique flavor and texture, a ratio that is easily disturbed by environmental conditions, shipping and storage. Analysts involved in the quality control or regulation of wine require reliable analytical methods and standards for its determination. To help analysts produce definitive, quantitative results, Sigma- Aldrich offers three Fluka-brand standards for wine analysis. Together, these standards include many of the most commonly analyzed sugars, acids and alcohols in wine.
Ion chromatography (IC) is useful because it permits the simultaneous analysis of many important wine components. The IC chromatograms of the Fluka standards, along with samples of sweet and dry wines, appear in the accompanying fi gures. These samples were provided by a Swiss vintner that performs in-house QA to show the quality of their wine as a means to help ensure customer confidence in their product. Notable are the elevated sugars in the sweet wine and elevated acids in the dry wine.