Development of a Method for Analyzing the Volatile Thiols Involved in the Characteristic Aroma of Wines Made fromVitis viniferaL. Cv. Sauvignon Blanc

Volatile thiols were purified from a dichloromethane extract of Sauvignon blanc wine by the reversible combination of the thiols with p -hydroxymercuribenzoate, fixation of the resulting complex in an anion exchange column, and finally release of the thiols with cysteine. By analyzing the purified thiol extract from 500 mL of wine, using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, it was possible to measure the concentrations of five volatile compounds at once: 4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one, 3-mercaptohexyl acetate, 3-mercaptohexan-1-ol, 4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-ol, and 3-mercapto-3-methylbutan-1-ol. Analysis of 10 typical Sauvignon Blanc wines (Bordeaux, Sancerre) showed that the first three compounds listed above are expected to be involved in varietal aroma, as they may be present at concentrations greatly in excess of their respective perception thresholds.