The effects of reduced glutathione (GSH) on non-volatile and volatile metabolites of Chardonnay wine during storage under simulated oxidation were investigated. The metabolites of GSH, which play a key role in the storage of white wine, were identified. In this study, GSHs at 0, 10, and 20 mg/L were added to wine samples and stored at 45 °C for 45 days. Wine samples supplemented with 0 mg/L GSH were used as controls (CK). The samples stored for 45 days were analyzed via ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 1107 non-volatile metabolites were detected, and 617 volatile metabolites were identified. Variable Importance in Projection (VIP) of >1.0 and Fold Change (FC) of ≧2.0 were used to screen differential metabolites. A total of 59 important non-volatile and 39 differential volatile metabolites were screened. Among the non-volatile metabolites, 17 substances were down-regulated, whereas 16 substances were up-regulated. Among the volatile metabolites, 3 substances were down-regulated, while 19 substances were up-regulated. After analysis, some lipids were found to play an important role in the changes to non-volatile substances. This study provides theoretical support for further application of GSH in increasing the oxidation stability of white wine.

Four sweet cherry cultivars (FuChen, Redlight, Huangmi, and Samituo) grown in northern China were used to produce sweet cherry wines with two alcohol levels. Physicochemical properties, antioxidant capacity, and volatile aroma compounds of the wines were systematically investigated. The results showed that wine from the Redlight cultivar with an alcohol content of 11.22 ± 0.17% contained the highest phenolic content and also exhibited the strongest antioxidant capacity as measured by DPPH and ABTS•⁺ assays. Meanwhile, wine from the FuChen cultivar with an alcohol content of 11.45 ± 0.03% had the highest anthocyanin content and showed the strongest FRAP antioxidant activity. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) based on electronic nose data clearly distinguished the eight sweet cherry wine samples from different cultivars. A total of 58 volatile compounds were identified by headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS). Both principal component analysis (PCA) and OPLS-DA revealed clear differences among the sweet cherry wines based on their volatile composition. Using variable importance in projection (VIP) scores > 1 and relative odor activity values (ROAVs), the key aroma compounds contributing to the characteristic aroma profiles of the eight sweet cherry wines were identified as ethyl butanoate, isoamyl acetate, isoamyl hexanoate, methyl decanoate, ethyl decanoate, ethyl benzoate, methyl salicylate, citronellol, and eugenol. These findings provide important guidance for the selection of raw materials to improve the production of sweet cherry wines with targeted alcohol levels.