Abstract

BELCHIOR, A. Pedro; MATEUS, Ana M.  and  SOARES, Amélia M.. Comparison of the Lourinhã brandy ageing in chestnut and oak barrels of two different sizes. Ciência Téc. Vitiv. [online]. 2005, vol.20, n.2, pp.91-103. ISSN 0254-0223.

The essay was carried out under enological conditions, to study the first three years of ageing of the same Lourinhã brandy in barrels of four different Portuguese chestnut woods and three different oaks woods. The chestnut woods used differed on the geographical origin and forestry exploitation. The research also concerned brandies aged in chestnut, Limousin oak and Portuguese oak barrels of two different sizes, with three repetitions. The analytical parameters involved were the dry extract and the total polyphenol index. The sensory analysis of the brandies was also performed. The results obtained confirm those of laboratorial essays as for the dry extract and the total polyphenol index. In fact, the highest extraction occurs during the first two months of ageing. The brandies aged in chestnut barrels presented higher and faster extraction than the brandies aged in oak barrels, being the most appreciated by the tasters. The chestnut wood from "talhadia" exploitation originated brandies with the highest dry extract. The brandies aged in oak originating from Eastern Europe exhibited the slowest extraction and the lowest quality. Concerning the effect of the barrel size, the brandies aged in 250 dm³ barrels presented the highest dry extract and total polyphenol index, although the lack of significant differences in the sensory analysis. The assessment of tasters’ repeatability indicated their coherence and the homogeneity of the sensory panel.

Keywords : Aguardentes velhas; madeiras; Castanheiro; Carvalho; volumes de vasilhas.

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