STUDY OF THE EFFICIENCY OF THE “CLEF DU VIN”

Lucía López de Aguileta Martínez has presented her Bachelor thesis ‘Study of the efficiency of the “Clef du vin”’ on 27th July 2020. Remote education applies for all students at the University of Burgos due to coronavirus pandemic, so thesis defence was held with remote participation by all members of the committee, Lucía and additional audience members.

The ‘Clef du Vin’ is an accessory patented by Peugeot that serves for the accelerated aging of a given wine. In just one second the characteristics of the wine change, it is able to simulate in 1 second, the effects of aging of 1 year in bottle. This key has in its base a specific alloy of metals that through an oxidation reaction accelerate the development of aromas, softening the texture. In this work, techniques of wine analysis provided by the OIV (International Organization of Vine and Wine) are used to check the changes that this key produces in the wine. The physicochemical parameters considered have been: pH, acidity, chromatic characteristics, total polyphenols, tartaric acid, malic acid and iron and copper concentration. The completion of the analyses has not been possible due to coronavirus pandemic, so the study has not been fully carried out and the main aim of the project, assess the performance of “The Clef du Vin”, has not been achieved. However, a bibliographic review on this issue has been carried out.