Sensory Characterization of Young South American Red Wines Classified by Varietal and Origin

• Grant number: 14/13349-4
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants - Publications - Scientific article
• Start date: August 01, 2014
• End date: January 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Science
• Principal Investigator: Inar Castro Erger
• Grantee: Inar Castro Erger
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Typicality is the set of sensory characteristics that identify a distinctive type of wine. Thus the aim of this research was to identify the sensory characteristics that contribute to define typicality of young South American red wines based on their varietal and origin, and to evaluate the effect of the vintage on this identification. To achieve this objective, visual appearance, odour and taste of 138 wines from two vintages were submitted to a sensory evaluation using a Descriptive Analysis complemented with the Frequency of Citation method, performed by wine experts. The intensity of seventeen odour and taste attributes was evaluated using a 5 points rating structured scale. The panel performance evaluation demonstrated its high level of expertise and reproducibility. The wines were separated into three clusters by multivariate analyses. Cluster 1 was primarily composed of Carménère, Malbec and Syrah wines from Chile. Cluster 2 was predominantly composed of Tannat wines from Uruguay and Brazil, while Cluster 3 contained a higher proportion of Malbec and Merlot wines from Argentina and Brazil. Cabernet Sauvignon was equally distributed into all clusters. Wine experts were able to identify the wines according to their varietal and origin, suggesting that there is typicality in young South American red wines. The combination of Descriptive Analysis with the Frequency of Citation was useful in characterizing most of the wines, but the typicality perceived by the panelists was not achieved by multivariate analysis. Vintage did not alter the sensory characterization of the wines, and this result could be due the new viticulture or oenological practices used by the winemakers to compensate the environmental variation. (AU)