Investigating the Use of Element Analysis for Differentiation between the Geographic Origins of Western Cape Wines

Abstract

The aim of this study was to differentiate between the geographic origins of wines produced in the Western Cape on the basis of their element composition. A total of 96 market-ready red and white wines (Pinotage, Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay and Chenin blanc) were analysed by means of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The discriminant methods: stepwise discriminant analysis, canonical discriminant analysis and linear discriminant analysis were applied to the data sets. A classification accuracy of 38% for Pinotage, 55% for Shiraz, 68% for Merlot, 75% for Cabernet Sauvignon, 93% for Sauvignon blanc, 68% for Chardonnay and 100% for Chenin blanc was achieved. Subject to the conditions of this study, it was concluded that differentiation between wines according to geographical origin was possible using the elemental composition.

Geographical Discrimination of Croatian Wines by Stable Isotope Ratios and Multielemental Composition Analysis

“…Recent research has been conducted to determine the geographic origin based on the composition of the elements assuming that the chemical composition of the wine reflects the soil composition ( 31 ), in which case their determination enables the establishment of a “fingerprint” for each element and creates the possibility of establishing a link between wine and their geographical origin ( 26 ). The potential of multielement “fingerprint” techniques to identify the geographical origin of wine was established in many investigations in different countries: Portugal ( 32 , 33 ), Italy ( 34 , 35 ), Slovakia ( 36 ), Croatia ( 37 , 38 ), Spain ( 39 – 41 ), Romania ( 42 ), Cyprus ( 7 , 14 ), Slovenia ( 4 ), Serbia ( 43 ), Macedonia ( 44 ), Ukraine ( 45 ), Turkey ( 46 ), Argentina ( 47 ), South Africa ( 31 , 48 , 49 ), and California ( 50 ), USA.…”