Our Mission
The Chen Lab investigates how vineyard conditions, fermentation variables, and winemaking practices influence wine flavor chemistry. We use mass spectrometry to identify and quantify flavor compounds, trace their formation pathways, and connect chemical profiles to production decisions. Our work provides chemical data to support quality improvement and climate adaptation in viticulture and enology.
What We Work On
Flavor chemistry: We identify volatile and non-volatile compounds that contribute to wine aroma and taste, including thiols, terpenes, esters, and their glycosylated precursors. We quantify these compounds across varieties, regions, and production methods.
Climate and production impacts: We measure how environmental stress, canopy management, irrigation, fermentation temperature, yeast strain, and aging conditions affect flavor compound formation and transformation.
Analytical methods: We develop GC–MS/MS, LC–MS/MS, and HRMS methods for trace-level flavor compounds in grape and wine matrices. We apply untargeted metabolomics to discover previously uncharacterized contributors to wine quality.
Our Culture
Our culture is built on rigor, transparency, and collaboration. We empower scientists to formulate strong hypotheses, conduct robust experiments, evaluate data critically, and share their discoveries with clarity and impact.