CHARACTERIZATION OF THE VOLATILE COMPOUNDS PROFILE OF COMMERCIAL GRAPPAS OBTAINED FROM THE POMACE OF AMARONE WINES

A wide range of olfactory descriptors ranging from fresh and jammy fruit notes to cooked and oxidized fruit notes could describe the fruity aroma of red wines [1]. The fruity character of a wine is mainly related to the grape variety selected, to the terroir and the vinification process applied for its conception. In white wines, some volatile compounds confer directly their aroma to the wine while the question of “key” compound is more complex in red wines. According to many studies performed over the past decades, some fruity ethyl esters are directly involved in the fruity perception of red wines while others, present at subthreshold concentrations, participate indirectly to the fruity expression via perceptive interactions [2].

Climate change is likely to impact wine typicity across the globe, raising concerns in wine regions historically renowned for the quality of their terroir1. Amongst several changes in viticultural practices, replacing some of the planting material (i.e. clones, rootstocks and cultivars) is thought to be one of the most promising potential levers to be used for adapting to climate change. But the change of cultivars also involves the issue of protecting the region’s wine typicity. In Bordeaux (France), extensive research has been conducted on identifying meridional varieties that could be good candidates to help guard against the effects of climate change2 while less research has been done concerning their impacts on Bordeaux wine typicity.

Red wine ageing is an important step in the red wine evolution and impacts its chemical and sensory characteristics through many chemicals and physico-chemical reactions. The kinetics of these evolutions depend on the wine studied and influence the wine ageing potential. Generally, high quality red wines require a longer period of bottle ageing before consumption¹. The ageing potential is an impor-tant parameter for wine quality and is related to the capacity of a wine to undergo oxidation over time². Phenolic compounds which are ones of the main substrates for oxidation can then potentially modulate ageing potential³.

Wine complexity is considered a multidimensional yet equivocal sensory percept. This project uncovered sensory attributes Australian Chardonnay wine consumers associate with Chardonnay wine complexity
and correlations between expert and consumer perceived wine complexity and preference. A
wine consumer test examined 6 Australian Chardonnay wines of three complexity levels designated low (LC1&2), medium (MC1&2), and high (HC1&2) by an expert panel (n = 8) using a benchtop sensory task. Consumers (n = 81) rated their perceived liking using a 9-point hedonic scale; wine complexity with a 5-point scale anchored “low”, “low-medium”, “medium”, “medium-high”, and “high” and lastly, profiled the wines using Rate-All-That-Apply (RATA). Psychographic segmentation with the Fine Wine Instrument
(FWI) generated three segments; Wine Enthusiasts (WE n=29), Aspirants (ASP n=40) and No- Frills (NF n=12).

The chemical composition of grape berries at harvest is one of the key aspects influencing wine quality and depends mainly on the ripeness level of grapes. Climate change affects this trait, unbalancing technological and phenolic ripeness, and this further raises the need for a fast determination of the grape maturity in order to quickly and efficiently determine the optimal time for harvesting. To this end, the characterization of variety-specific ripening curves and the development of new and rapid methods for determining grape ripeness are of key importance.