Wine is the perfect analyte to test the capability of the differential sensing approach due to inherent wine's chemical diversity and complexity. Metabolites such as tannins and other polyphenols present in wine derive not only from the grape but also from the yeast that act upon the grape, the environmental factors to which the growing grapes were exposed to, and even the oak barrels where the wine was aged. The differential sensing array is composed of peptide-based sensors which display cross-reactive interactions with tannins present in wine. According to the tannin composition and distribution, different types of wine present a unique fingerprint.

The differential sensing method is a powerful analytical tool that our stream has implemented in the last decade to classify and differentiate wine based on its diverse tannin composition. Current applications include the classification of varieties, blends, hang-on time on the vines, year of harvest, vineyards, vintage and regions.

Metabolomics aims to quantify small molecules involved in the metabolism of biological systems such as plant tissue. Metabolomic profiling is performed using analytical instruments such as mass spectrometry/NMR, and represented with bioinformatic software. Metabolomics has been recently applied to study the wine-making process in other regions considering that metabolites can affect aging, aroma, and flavor of wine. Likewise, metabolomics is also used in the wine industry to better understand the effects of growing conditions and regional geographic location.