Prediction of tartrate stability of sherry wines by a conductimetric system with rapid response

The particular production process of Sherry wines means that an appropriate level of tartrate stability is not always reached. The objective of the work described here was to find a rapid and reliable method to determine the tartrate stability of this type of wine. After a broad initial characterization, it was shown that cold-treated Sherry wines remain more oversaturated with potassium bitartrate than white and red table wines. The saturation temperature (Ts) and the result of the minicontact test (Mc) have been correlated with the tartrate stability of different Sherry wines, with the conclusion that wines having Mc values lower than 10 μS/cm remain stable at −4 °C during 1 week. In contrast, a direct relationship between stability and Ts was not found. The minicontact test is therefore proposed as a method for the rapid and reliable determination of the tartrate stability of Sherry wines.