Volatile Composition of Vernaccia di Oristano Sherry-Like Wine as Affected by Biological Ageing

Forty compounds were identified by gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in the volatile fraction of Vernaccia di Oristano, an Italian sherry-like wine produced in Sardinia since the 11th century. The individual aromatic compounds were identified and quantified in the original wine, both after biological ageing by inoculation of the original wine with Saccharomyces cerevisiaevarbayanusandS cerevisiaevarprostoserdovii, and after ageing under sterile conditions. The effects of flor yeasts in terms of production or subtraction of flavour components are discussed.