terclim by ICS banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Congress on Grapevine and Wine Sciences 9 2ICGWS-2023 9 Typicality of Rioja wines: identification of sensory profiles for the three subregions of DOCa Rioja

Typicality of Rioja wines: identification of sensory profiles for the three subregions of DOCa Rioja

Abstract

Within the DOCa Rioja three main production areas are differentiated: Rioja Alta (RA), Rioja Alavesa (RAv) and Rioja Oriental (RO). They are three diverse territories with particular characteristics that are claimed to give rise to differentiated profiles. The present work aims at evaluating the sensory diversity of young commercial red wines in these three subregions. Therefore 30 young red wines (mainly Tempranillo and vintage 2021), ten from each subregion, were sensory described following a non-verbal free sorting task and a verbal free comment task by 32 well-established Rioja winemakers. The sorting task evidenced that the main sensory differences perceived were between Rioja Oriental and Rioja Alta/Rioja Alavesa. These differences were mainly attributed to colour intensity, body/structure and liquorice aroma, which were perceived with higher intensity in wines from Rioja Alta/Rioja Alavesa than in those from Rioja Oriental. The free description task showed shared sensory profiles but also specific sensory profiles for each of the three regions. Rioja Alta and Alavesa display a common sensory profile characterised with high colour intensity and purple-violet hue, high aroma intensity with fresh fruit and lactic aromas and high acidity. Similarly, Rioja Alavesa and Oriental share a prototype of wine described with low colour and medium aromatic intensities, grassy and fresh aroma, and powerful tannin with low acidity. Regarding specific characteristics, Rioja Alta presents a unique and typical profile with high colour intensity, ripe fruit, spicy and balsamic/mint aromas with powerful tannins. Rioja Alavesa´s typical profile is characterised by medium colour intensity, gummy candy, fresh fruit, lactic and floral aroma, with silky, and mellow mouthfeel. The characteristic profile for Rioja Oriental was moderate colour intensity with ruby-garnet hue, dried fruit, jammy fruit, alcohol and spicy aromas and light in mouth. This project is of particular importance since it is the first-time scientific research tries to distinguish between the three subregions of DOCa Rioja and attempts to provide a sensory identity, contributing at the same time to a better understanding of the notion of typicity in wine.

Acknowledgements: This project was funded by the Instituto de Estudios Riojanos (call 2022).

DOI:

Publication date: October 13, 2023

Issue: ICGWS 2023

Type: Poster

Authors

A. Iosofidis1, M. Gonzalez-Hernandez1*, C. Castillo Rio1, P. Fernández-Zurbano1, M. P. Sáenz-Navajas1

1Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino (Universidad de La Rioja-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Gobierno de La Rioja). Departamento de Enología, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain

Contact the author*

Keywords

designated origin, red wine, typicity, free description, sorting task

Tags

2ICGWS | ICGWS | ICGWS 2023 | IVES Conference Series

Citation

Related articles…

New varieties descendant from Monastrell with lower sugar and high phenolic content adapted to warm climates

Given that climate change is a continuous process, it is necessary to constantly search for new strategies that help the viticulturist sector to mitigate its consequences. All adaptation strategies will have a greater or lesser effect that in turn will be marked by the times of action. As a long-term action, a genetic breeding program to obtain new varieties descendant from Monastrell has been developed in the Region of Murcia (more specifically, in the IMIDA Research Center) since 1997. In this program, new red varieties have been developed through directed crosses of the Monastrell variety with other varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo and Syrah.

Molecularly imprinted polymers: an innovative strategy for harvesting polyphenoles from grape seed extracts

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a multifactorial autoimmune disease associating demyelination and axonal degeneration developing in young adults and affecting 2–3 million people worldwide. Plant polyphenols endowed with many therapeutic benefits associated with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties represent highly interesting new potential therapeutic strategies. We recently showed the safety and high efficiency of grape seed extract (GSE), a complex mixture of polyphenolics compounds comprising notably flavonoids and proanthocyanidins, in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model of MS.

Polyphenol content of cork granulates at different steps of the manufacturing process of microagglomerated stoppers treated with supercritical CO2 used for wine bottling

The wine closure industry is mainly divided into three categories: screw caps, synthetic closures, and cork-based closures. Among this latter, microagglomerated cork stoppers treated with supercritical CO2 are now widely used, especially to avoid cork taint contaminations[1]. They are designed with cork granules obtained from cork offcuts of the punching process during the natural cork stoppers production. A previous study[2] showed that these stoppers released fewer polyphenols in 12 % (v/v) hydroalcoholic solution than natural cork stoppers.

Characterization of spoilage yeasts from Malbec grapes from San Rafael wine region (Argentina)

The yeast ecosystem in grape musts is quite broad and depends on the region and the health of the grapes. Within this, there are yeasts that can generate fermentative deviations and/or cause defects in the wine. It is very important to address this issue because there are significant economic losses in the wine industry when the fermentation process and/or the organoleptic characteristics of the wine are negatively affected, even more today since climate change has a marked effect on the composition of this ecosystem. The aim of this work is to characterize the behavior regarding detrimental oenological features of potential spoilage yeasts isolated from viticultural environments.

INTEGRAPE guidelines and tools: an effort of COST Action CA17111

INTEGRAPE was a European interdisciplinary network for “data integration to maximize the power of omics for grapevine improvement” (CA17111, https://integrape.eu/), funded by the European COST Association from September 2018 to 2022. This Action successfully developed guidelines and tools for data management and promoted the best practices in grapevine omics studies with a holistic future vision of: “Imagine having all data on grapevine accessible in a single place”.