Survey: Ochratoxin A in European special wines

The occurrence of Ochratoxin A (OTA) was examined in 121 special wines made using different winemaking techniques and from many European origins. The wine groups with the highest OTA content and occurrence, above 90%, were those were the must was fortified before fermentation (mean: 4.48 mu g/l) and those made from grapes dried by means of sun exposure (mean: 2.77 mu g/l). Fortified wines with long aging in wooden casks were about 50% contaminated, with OTA levels below 1.00 mu g/l. Wines affected by noble rot, late harvest wines and ice wines did not contain OTA. Overall, 19.8% of the wines studied contained OTA levels above the maximum permissible limit for the European Union (2 mu g/kg) in wine (excluding liqueur wines). (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.