Ascorbic acid addition to rosé: Impact on the oxidative and reductive development of bottled wine

•Ascorbic acid accelerates the rate of oxygen consumption in rosé wines.•Ascorbic acid decreases the mole ratio of total SO2 consumed to O2 consumed.•Ascorbic acid accelerates Cu(II)-organic acid loss and formation of Cu sulfides.•Cu(II)-organic acids can repress methanethiol aroma in rosé wine.•Ascorbic acid did not induce reductive development in wines bottled with low O2. The impact of ascorbic acid on the oxidative and reductive development of rosé wine during bottle ageing has not been previously established. A rosé wine that contained 0.25 mg/L of Cu was bottled with levels of 0, 50 or 500 mg/L of ascorbic acid and different total packaged oxygen concentrations (3 and 17 mg/L), and was stored for 15 months at 14 °C in darkness. Ascorbic acid increased the first-order oxygen consumption rate from 0.030 ± 0.001 to 0.040 ± 0.001 days−1, and decreased the mole ratio of total SO2 consumed to oxygen consumed from 1.0:1 to 0.7:1. Although ascorbic acid did accelerate the loss of a Cu form that can suppress reductive aromas, it did not induce reductive aromas. These results indicate that ascorbic acid can accelerate the removal of oxygen from bottled rosé wine while maintaining higher concentrations of sulfur dioxide, however, it did not promote reductive development.