Study of Sangiovese Wines Pigment Profile by UHPLC-MS/MS

The metabolic pigment composition of Sangiovese wines produced from grapes harvested at 20 different vineyards in Montalcino over three consecutive years (2008-2010) on a semi-industrial scale and of 55 commercial Brunello di Montalcino wines (2004-2007) was studied, using a targeted method capable of analyzing 90 pigments in an 11 min UHPLC-MS/MS chromatographic run. Interesting correlations were shown between various pigments formed during wine aging and those present in Sangiovese grapes. Vitisin B-like pigment and vitisin A-like pigment concentrations would seem to have a good correlation with ethyl-linked and direct-linked flavanol anthocyanin concentrations, respectively. Moreover, the anthocyanic pattern recognition, genetically controlled by the plant variety, was shown to be inherited by the pigments formed during wine aging.