ReviewProgress in authentication, typification and traceability of grapes and wines by chemometric approaches

- Analytical techniques for the evaluation of grape and wine authenticity are reviewed.
- The usefulness of the chemometrics approach is highlighted.
- An overview of the most useful chemical markers of authenticity is presented.
- Current limitation for the authenticity of grape and wine are discussed.

The assessment of wine traceability and authenticity is a critical issue that has gained a lot of interest internationally. Specific quality control programs are mandatory in many countries, including EU and USA, to protect consumers from involuntary mistakes occurring during production, as well as to narrow the possibilities for illegal adulteration practices. The rapid introduction of advanced analytical techniques, employed for the measurement of trace compounds or the simultaneous determination of a wide array of analytes, has been accompanied with the development of more comprehensive approaches for data mining, and data analysis. The prior has lead to improving the means for wine traceability, and discrimination and classification of grapes and wines (mainly in terms of grape varieties, geographical origin and processing conditions). Some of the recent findings on wine typification and authentication herein reviewed, highlight that several challenges need to be solved in order to improve the assessment of wine authenticity and confirm potential mistakes or product adulteration.