Chemical and sensory profiling of dry and semi-dry South African Chenin blanc wines

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Chenin blanc wine is of economic importance to South Africa and a range of diverse dry and semi-dry wines are locally produced in this genre. Currently, the use of three distinctly different style names, each aimed at providing consumers with information about the flavour of the wines, is encouraged by the South African (SA) wine industry. The styles are fresh and fruity (FF), rich and ripe unwooded (RRUW) and rich and ripe wooded (RRW). Feedback from retail sectors over the past few years, however, repeatedly suggested that the style names are perceived as confusing by SA consumers. This master study was undertaken to re-evaluate the FF, RRUW and RRW style classification, based on both the volatile fermentation-derived aroma composition and the sensory attributes of a set of wines containing all the styles under investigation.For the purposes of chemical profiling, a set of 105 commercial Chenin blanc wines, selected to be representative of these three styles and originating from the major SA wine producing areas, were analysed by Gas Chromatography (GC) to quantify fermentation-derived volatile aroma compounds in the wines. ANOVA performed on the chemical data showed that 29 compounds represent significant differences between at least two of the 3 styles (FF, RRUW and RRW). Principal component analysis (PCA) of the volatile compounds showed a large degree differentiation between FF and RRW wine styles, however, RRUW wine styles overlapped with the other two styles. Considering vintage effects, ANOVA indicated no significant differences within FF (vintages 2009 and 2010) and RRW (vintages 2008 and 2009) styles, whereas only 2 esters and 4 terpenes showed significant differences between the three wine producing regions investigated for this purpose, Paarl/Wellington, Breede River and Stellenbosch. Volatile aroma compounds generated for Chenin blanc were included in the Winetech database consisting of the most important cultivars of South Africa. Combining the data for the volatiles for Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc from this database and the data for Chenin blanc obtained in this study, a PCA indicated a clear separation between Chenin blanc and the other two white cultivars.Sensory evaluation of the style classification was done by two separate sensory tests. Firstly, a sorting task was performed by wine industry experts to categorise 21 Chenin blanc wines (FF, RRUW and RRW) based on their similarity. The results showed a differentiation between FF and RRW styles, however, RRUW was mostly classified together with FF wines. This indicated a possible continuum between the three styles, as opposed to three distinct different categories, currently suggested by the style names.The second sensory analysis test, Descriptive Sensory Analysis (DSA), was performed by a trained panel to generate sensory profiles for 42 wines. ANOVA of the flavour attribute intensities between different styles once again showed significant differences between FF and RRW, with RRUW wines forming a continuum between the FF and RRW styles. These results provide valuable information that could be used by the wine industry for labelling purposes.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University