Abstract:  The species and content of anthocyanins in red wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon in France rotary oak barrel and in stainless steel tank,were assayed respectively by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry(HPLC-MS)after 180 days and 360 days aging respectively.The hue comparison was also assayed with the CIELAB.The results showed that the major anthocyanins of Cabernet Sauvignon red wines are the malvidin-glucoside and its derivatives,malvidin-glucoside and malvidin-acetylglucoside whose content is beyond 50% and 20% of total anthocyanin respectively,are regarded as the characteristic anthocyanins.However anthocyanins are affected by fermentation containers,the content of acylated anthocyanin decreases more than that of the corresponding non-acylated during wine aging.The results also showed that the red color is mainly up to the content of anthocyanins when the wines aging is upto 180 days,but there is no color effect when the wines aging is up to 360 days.The colour of red,yellow and lightness for Cabernet Sauvignon red wines fermented in oak barrel excels that in stainless steel tank.Therefore,the method and results above have provided a powerful assay to rapidly and authentically identify anthocyanins and also afforded a theoretical reference for optimizing vinification and quality control of wines.

Key words: Cabernet Sauvignon, wine, fermented container, anthocyanins, colour