terclim by ICS banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Congress on Grapevine and Wine Sciences 9 2ICGWS-2023 9 Wine odors: chemicals, physicochemical and perceptive processes involved in their perception

Wine odors: chemicals, physicochemical and perceptive processes involved in their perception

Abstract

The odors of wines are diverse, complex and dynamic and much research has been devoted to the understanding of their chemical bases. However, while the “basic” chemical part of the problem, namely the identity of the chemicals responsible for the different odor nuances, was satisfactorily solved years ago, there are some relevant questions precluding a clear understanding. These questions are related to the physicochemical interactions determining the effective volatilities of the odorants and, particularly, to the perceptual interactions between different odor molecules affecting in different ways to the final sensory outputs.

The understanding of perceptual interactions has been delayed to a large extent by the common misunderstanding that odorants and odors are the same thing. Odorants are, however, chemical entities -volatile molecules- able to impact the olfactory receptors, while odors are the sensory experiences encoded by odorants. A significant part of the code is nowadays known, and can be explained in terms of odor x odor interactions. These interactions can be competitive, cooperative, destructive and creative. Cooperative interactions are relevant because give rise to the concept of odor vector, establishing a key link between the chemical and sensory spaces. Different studies have shown that the nearly 80 main wine odorants form 35 different wine aroma vectors, classified into 10-different aroma categories. Yet, aroma vectors can further interact by creative interactions to form new aroma nuances. Some of these interactions have been identified and will be shown. Furthermore, destructive interactions can also take a major role in wine, since ethanol and the higher alcohols are strong aroma suppressors. These suppression effects are of the highest interest in wine dealcoholization.

Finally, it will be shown that physicochemical interactions with different matrix components are enough to change the volatilities of some odorants by factors between 2 and 4, more than enough to have sensory relevance.

Acknowledgement. Most of this research has been funded by the Spanish government (projects MYCIN PID2021-126031OB; MINECO AGL2017-87373)

DOI:

Publication date: October 20, 2023

Issue: ICGWS 2023

Type: Article

Authors

Vicente Ferreira

Laboratory for Aroma Analysis and Enology (LAAE), University of Zaragoza, Spain

Tags

2ICGWS | ICGWS | ICGWS 2023 | IVES Conference Series

Citation

Related articles…

The combined use of Lachancea thermotolerans and lactic bacteria in wine technology

The production of most red wines that are sold involves an alcoholic fermentation carried out by yeasts of the Saccharomyces genus, and a subsequent fermentation carried out by lactic bacteria of the Oenococus oeni species after the first one is fully completed. However, the traditional process can face complications, which can be more likely in grape juices with high levels of sugar and pH. Because of climate change, these situations are more frequent in the wine industry. The main hazards in those scenarios are halts or delays in the alcoholic fermentation or the growth of unwanted bacteria while the alcoholic fermentation is not done yet and the wine still has residual sugars.

Exploring relationships among grapevine chemical and physiological parameters and mycobiome composition under drought stress

Improving our knowledge on biotic and abiotic factors that influence the composition of the grapevine mycobiome is of great agricultural significance, due to potential effects on plant health, productivity, and wine characteristics. Among the various environmental factors affecting the morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular attributes of grapevine, drought stress is one of the most severe, becoming increasingly an issue worldwide.

High-throughput sequencing analysis based on nematode indices revealed healthier soils of organic vineyards 

Proper soil health assessments are crucial for sustainable cropland. Among the widely employed approaches, evaluating nematode community structure is particularly suitable. Traditionally, the taxonomic characterization of soil nematodes has relied on time-consuming morphology-based methods requiring experienced experts. However, molecular tools like high-throughput sequencing have emerged as efficient alternatives. In this study, we performed a metataxonomic analysis of soil samples collected from 57 vineyards in the DOCa Rioja region of Northern Spain, focusing on the impact of organic viticulture and cover cropping compared to integrated pest management (IPM) and tilling practices.

Overall conceptual characterization of aged dry white wines using a mental descriptive questionnaire

The purpose of the present study was to understand the overall concept of an aged dry white wine using a descriptive mental questionnaire. A total of 680 worldwide participants, grouped according to their involvement in the wine business, replied to an online questionnaire to characterize the sensory analytical and synthetic descriptors of an aged dry white wine. The descriptors were selected using a Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) approach concerning wine colour, aroma, taste, mouthfeel, and global appreciation.

Evaluation of interception traps for capture of Xylotrechus arvicola (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in vineyards varieties from Protected Denomination of Origin León

Xylotrechus arvicola (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is a pest in vineyards (Vitis vinifera) in the main Spain wine-producing regions with Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO). The action of the larvae, associated to the spreading of wood fungi, causes damage especially in important varieties of V. vinifera. X. arvicola females lay eggs concentrated in cracks or under the rhytidome in the wood vines, which allows the emerging larvae to get into the wood and make galleries inside the plant being then necessary to prune intensively or to pull up the bored plants (1). The objective of the study was to evaluate captures of X. arvicola insects in five varieties of V. vinifera in PDO León.