Determination of amines and phenolic acids in wine with benzoyl chloride derivatization and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

We have developed an assay for 56 amine and phenolic metabolites in wine using benzoyl chloride derivatization and LC-MS. Isotopically labeled benzoyl chloride was used to prepare internal standards for each metabolite. Nanomolar limits of detection were achieved for all metabolites. To demonstrate the application of this assay, we compared metabolite profiles from Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon wines from California and Australia. We found five metabolites which were significantly different when grouped by varietal, while twenty-four were different when grouped by location of production. This shows that the method can identify differences between various wines.