January 29, 2020 — Until now, only tasting allowed winemakers to assess the oxygen sensitivity of their wines. “We have developed the Tendency of Evolution test, or ‘TE’ test, in order to provide a concrete response to winemakers who wish to know the oxygen sensitivity of their wines as well as the associated risk of oxidation,” explains Stéphane Vidal, Vice President Enology & Wine Quality Solutions (WQS).

Thanks to an electrochemical measurement done with the PolyScan, winemakers obtain an indication of the capacity of their wines to react with oxygen and build better resistance or, on the contrary, undergo oxidative damage.

Wine sensitivity to oxidation evolves over time and depends on the operations which the wine undergoes during winemaking and ageing. The test results can therefore change throughout the winemaking process and its interpretation should be corroborated with the stage of wine elaboration. « Two results are possible: either the wine is categorized as sensitive or little sensitive. Depending on the test results, the winemakers can adapt their winemaking, ageing, blending, storage and even closure choices », says Christine Pascal. With this test, our polyphenol analyzer provides winemakers with more precision and guidance in the management of their wine production. “In addition to the tastings regularly performed, we offer to guide the winemakers in their technical choices to adapt the process according to the wine sensitivity”, says Romain Thomas, WQS business developer.

For any further information on the Tendency of Evolution test and our recommendations regarding the test results, please click here.