Determination of iron, copper, manganese and zinc in the soils, grapes and wines of the Azores

This paper describes the determination of iron, copper, manganese and zinc in the soils, grapes and wines of the three viticultural regions of the Azores. Iron, copper and zinc were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry and manganese by graphite furnace atomic absorption. The concentrations of the four elements differed in soils of the three regions; there was no difference in the concentration in grapes, whereas significant differences were observed for the wines as regards the amounts of iron, manganese and zinc. The concentrations of these four elements in wine correspond with the mean values observed for other European regions.