Optical fibre monitoring of Madeira wine estufagem process

C. Novo; L. Bilro; R. Ferreira; N. Alberto; P. Antunes; R. Nogueira; J. L. Pinto

doi:10.1117/12.2025397

Translator Disclaimer

18 November 2013 Optical fibre monitoring of Madeira wine estufagem process

C. Novo, L. Bilro, R. Ferreira, N. Alberto, P. Antunes, R. Nogueira, J. L. Pinto

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8785, 8th Iberoamerican Optics Meeting and 11th Latin American Meeting on Optics, Lasers, and Applications; 8785EX (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2025397
Event: 8th Ibero American Optics Meeting/11th Latin American Meeting on Optics, Lasers, and Applications, 2013, Porto, Portugal

Abstract

In this work, the study of a particular step of Madeira’s winemaking process called estufagem with a plastic optical fibre sensor is presented. Madeira wine is a type of fortified wine produced in the Madeira island of Portugal. The characteristic aroma and exceptional stability of these wines result from the singular used winemaking method that consists in the estufagem where the wine is heated up to 55 °C for at least 3 months, among other steps. This heating based process can produce significant changes in wine colour, aroma and taste. By measuring the transmitted optical power through the wine in three different cells at three different wavelengths it is possible to monitor wine colour evolution during the estufagem. The plastic optical fibres offer easy non-skilled handling, ruggedness and low cost, overcoming the difficulties of the electronic and conventional systems and improving the time of the laboratory offline methods. Results show that it is possible to distinguish the different Madeira wines (from sweet to dry wines) obtained based on different wine grapes as well as the colour evolution during the diverse months of the estufagem.

Citation Download Citation

C. Novo, L. Bilro, R. Ferreira, N. Alberto, P. Antunes, R. Nogueira, and J. L. Pinto "Optical fibre monitoring of Madeira wine estufagem process", Proc. SPIE 8785, 8th Iberoamerican Optics Meeting and 11th Latin American Meeting on Optics, Lasers, and Applications, 8785EX (18 November 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2025397

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE