Metal contents in “oloroso” sherry wines and their classification according to provenance

“Oloroso” sherry wines, belonging to the denominations of origin Jerez-Xérès-Sherry (JX), Montilla-Moriles (MM) and Condado de Huelva (CH) (Andalusia, Spain), were analysed for their contents of Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Mn and Zn by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and Na, K, Al and Sr by flame atomic emission spectrophotometry. Among the three denominations of origin, differences in the mean contents were found for Na, Mg, Fe, Al and Sr. Cluster analysis showed that these differences were significant. Linear discrimination analysis, using Na, Mg, Fe, Al and Sr, gave 100% recognition ability and 93% prediction ability.