Pigment composition and color parameters of commercial Spanish red wine samples: linkage to quality perception.

nthocyanins play a crucial role in wine color. Thus, their analysis results essential for evaluating their contribution to perceived color in wines, attribute directly linked to quality judgements. In this context, this study was aimed at: (1) defining the color space of a relative large number of commercial oaked Spanish red wines and (2) establishing a linkage between wine coloring, anthocyanic composition, and quality perception of this set of wines. Therefore, CIELab parameters ( a*, b*, L*), monomeric anthocyanin contents analyzed by HPLC with ultraviolet and mass detection, and polymeric pigment content estimated by a protein precipitation assay combined with bisulfite bleaching were evaluated in a total of 58 wine samples. Principal component analysis was performed on color variables, and their correlations were discussed. The results have evidenced the important role played by the pyranoanthocyanic compounds since they seem to be the main contributors to the red color of these aged wines, and they have been demonstrated not to increase their yellow nuances. On the other hand, results highlight that, regardless of the time of aging, wines presenting more red (higher values for a* and for low molecular weighted anthocyanins) and lower yellow nuances (lower values for b* and T) as well as a darker color (lower in L* and higher in CI) are in general evaluated with higher quality scores by wine experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]