Bioaccessibility, Antioxidant Resilience, and Chemical Characteristics of Chardonnay Wines: A Comparison between Prolonged Maceration and Conventional Winemaking Following In Vitro Digestion

Abstract

This study evaluated Chardonnay wines produced with and without skin maceration, considering both fermentative and postfermentative contact with grape skins. Analyses compared phenolic composition, antioxidant capacity, and behavior during simulated gastrointestinal digestion. Wines with skin maceration exhibited substantially higher phenolic content (≈345–860 mg/L) than nonmacerated wines (≈155–305 mg/L), as well as greater antioxidant capacity before and after digestion. Spectroscopic and instrumental sensory analyses confirmed the chemical and sensory distinctiveness of macerated wines, with fluorescence spectroscopy explaining over 95% of the variance in differentiating wine styles. FTIR and electronic tongue data indicated greater analytical variability among macerated samples. Although digestion reduced concentrations of individual phenolics and increased convergence of analytical profiles, macerated wines retained superior antioxidant potential. These findings highlight the compositional complexity and bioactive potential of skin-macerated white wines, underscoring the need for further research on enological strategies that influence their nutritional, sensory, and functional properties.