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IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 WINE SWIRLING: A FIRST STEP TOWARDS THE UNLOCKING OF THE WINE’STASTER GESTURE

WINE SWIRLING: A FIRST STEP TOWARDS THE UNLOCKING OF THE WINE’STASTER GESTURE

Abstract

Right after the pouring of wine in a glass, a myriad of volatile organic compounds, including ethanol, overwhelm the glass headspace, thus causing the so-called wine’s bouquet [1]. Otherwise, it is worth noting that during wine tasting, most people automatically swirl their glass to enhance the release of aromas in the glass headspace [1]. About a decade ago, Swiss researchers revealed the complex fluid mechanics underlying wine swirling [2]. However, despite mechanically repeated throughout wine tasting, the consequences of glass swirling on the chemical space found in the headspace of wine glasses are still barely known. A preliminary study was thus conducted to characterize the dynamic parameters of the wine’s taster gesture. From a kinematic point of view, wine swirling, on a flat support, follows an orbital motion described by its radius of gyration and its angular speed. A video processing program was developed to de- cipher the basic statistical parameters of this orbital motion done by a panel of 85 participants swirling INAO glasses filled with increasing levels of a water/ethanol mixture. Based on these statistical data, a homemade 3D-printed orbital shaking device was designed to replicate a standardized and repeatable glass swirling motion. Actually, In champagne and sparkling wine tasting, from the service of wine into the glass, gas-phase CO₂ was found to massively invade the glass headspace [3,4]. Therefore, the idea has emerged that gas-phase CO₂ could be considered as an ideal tracker to better understand the conse- quences of wine swirling on the chemical headspace inhaled by wine tasters. A spectrometer initially developed to monitor gas-phase CO₂ under static conditions was thus upgraded for the monitoring of gas-phase CO₂ in the headspace of champagne glasses automatically swirled by the 3D-printed orbi- tal shaking device [5]. The first datasets recorded thanks to this setup show a sudden drop in the CO₂ concentration in the glass headspace, probably triggered by the liquid wave traveling along the glass wall following the action of swirling the glass.

 

1. R. S. Jackson, “Wine Tasting: A Professional Handbook”, 2nd edition, Academic Press, 2009.
2. M. Reclari et al., “Surface wave dynamics in orbital shaken cylindrical containers” Phys. Fluids, 26, 052104, 2014.
3. G. Liger-Belair, “Effervescence in champagne and sparkling wines: From grape harvest to bubble rise” Eur. Phys. J Special Topics, 226, 3-116, 2017.
4. A. L. Moriaux et al., “How does gas-phase CO₂ evolve in the headspace of champagne glasses?,” J. Agric. Food Chem., 69, 7, 2262–2270, 2021.
5. F. Lecasse et al., “An Infrared Laser Sensor for Monitoring Gas-Phase CO₂ in the Headspace of Champagne Glasses under Wine Swirling Conditions” Sensors, 22, 15, 5764, 2022.

DOI:

Publication date: February 9, 2024

Issue: OENO Macrowine 2023

Type: Article

Authors

Florian LECASSE¹, Raphaël VALLON¹, Clément JACQUEMIN¹, Clara CILINDRE¹, Bertrand PARVITTE¹, Virginie ZENINARI¹, Gérard LIGER-BELAIR¹

1. Groupe de Spectrométrie Moléculaire et Atmosphérique (GSMA), UMR CNRS 7331, UFR Sciences Exactes et Naturelles

Contact the author*

Keywords

Wine swirling, Champagne, Diode Laser Sensor, CO₂

Tags

IVES Conference Series | oeno macrowine 2023 | oeno-macrowine

Citation

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