EXPLORING RED WINE TYPICITY OF CORBIÈRES: EVALUATION OF THE DEGREE OF IMPACT OF VINIFICATION PROCESS ON THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ORGANOLEPTIC PROPERTIES OF WINES FROM DIFFERENT TERROIR

Abstract

It is important nowadays for wine producers to create a product that is an expression of their terroir, a concept including the interaction between a place (topography, climate, soil), the people (tradition, winemaking and viticultural practices) and the resulting product (grape varieties, wines) [1]. Nonetheless, wine’s typicity linked to those terroirs must be easily recognizable by consumers thanks to distinctive sensory characters and composition [2]. Among the compounds of interest, aromatic compounds and polyphenols play an important role in the quality of red wines, by impacting on the odour, color and astringency. To explore the influence of terroir factors, including climate, soil and human practices, on the chemical and sensory profile of wines, red wines from five terroirs of the Corbières appellation were subjected to a general study approach. The analyses were done on two vintages (2018 and 2019) and wines were characterized by a blend of the four main varieties (Syrah, Grenache, Carignan and Mourvèdre). A comprehensive analysis approach was adopted for the study of wines’ aromatic, color and astringency profiles. Volatile compounds were evaluated by HS-SPME-GC-MS, while wine pigments and derived pigments were assessed through spectrophotometric measurements. Moreover, wines were compared through a Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) sensorial profile method. The aim was to identify the “molecular markers” that could characterise the different wines and to assess whether these markers were related to each other and explained by their area of origin. In this study winemaking parameters were also considered and multifactorial analyses were performed to link these data to the chemical and/or sensory profiles. Results found for the Color Intensity (CI), the Total Polyphenol Index (IPT) and the nuance could be explained by the percentage of blending, color extraction techniques and ageing time. Differences in the aroma profile were mainly attributed to some fermentative and certain varietal aromas. Sensorial descriptors that appeared significant were related between each other, as well as to some aromatic and polyphenolic features highlighted (red fruits, IPT and astringency). This study could allow a first analytical characterization of five terroirs, proposing valuable elements in the definition of the typicity of wines.