OENO IVAS 2019 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Comparing the effects of vision, smell and taste in red wine quality judgments by experts: sensory cues, mental imagery and verbal representations as drivers of consensus in the multisensory space

Comparing the effects of vision, smell and taste in red wine quality judgments by experts: sensory cues, mental imagery and verbal representations as drivers of consensus in the multisensory space

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the contributions of vision, smell and taste to red wine quality judgments by expert wine tasters. Whereas previous studies specified the modulating effects of gustatory traits [1], culture and expertise [2, 3], our objective was to gain a better understanding of the perceptual mechanisms, with special consideration of the psychological representations that predict consensus in red wine quality judgments. To this aim, we compared wine tasters’ responses in unconstrained (i.e., all senses involved) and constrained wine tastings (i.e., unisensory: “visual”, “smell” and “taste”; multisensory: “visual-smell”, “visual-taste” and “taste-smell”) over six wine tasting sessions. In each session, wine tasters rated the quality of 20 red wines from a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO, premium vs. secondary wines), starting with an unconstrained tasting and then followed by a constrained tasting. We also collated predictors based on wine tasters’ responses to self-report questionnaires that assessed vividness of mental imagery in visual, smell, taste, somesthetic and wine contexts. Using a series of vocabulary tasks, we also evaluated whether lexical capacity predicts consensus in red wine quality judgments. 

Overall, our results showed a coherent quality concept across unconstrained and constrained wine tastings, with a clear quality distinction favoring premium wines. However, principal component analyses suggested a better quality judgement consensus with unisensory vision cues compared to all other sensory conditions. Going further, regression analyses also revealed specific drivers of red wine quality judgment consensus that are based on age, vividness of wine mental imagery, lexical capacity and consensus, as well as unisensory smell consensus and to a lesser degree, multisensory visual-taste consensus and unisensory taste consensus. 

Common experiences with wine, as well as the number of years tasting might promote strong vividness for wine representations (images and vocabulary), which in turn help predict wine tasters’ inclusion to the consensus involved with red wine quality judgments. Taken together, this study gives us an insightful look at the individual knowledge base, as well as the experience and representational cues that could delineate expert status. Further research in this direction could help promote informed teaching curricula in professional training and expert wine tasting.

[1] Saenz-Navajas, M.-P., Avizcuri, J.-M., Ballester, J., Fernandez-Zurbano, P., Ferreira, V., Peyron, D., et al. (2015). Sensory-active compounds influencing wine experts’ and consumers’ perception of red wine intrinsic quality. LWT – Food Science and Technology, 60, 400–411. 
[2] Saenz-Navajas, M.-P., Ballester, J., Pecher, C., Peyron, D., and Valentin, D. (2013). Sensory drivers of intrinsic quality of red wines: Effect of cultures and level of expertise. Food Research International, 54, 1506–1518. 
[3] Valentin, D., Parr, W. V., Peyron, D., Grose, C., and Ballester, J. (2016). Colour as a driver of Pinot noir wine quality judgments: An investigation involving French and New Zealand wine professionals. Food Quality and Preference, 48, 251-261.

DOI:

Publication date: June 19, 2020

Issue: OENO IVAS 2019

Type: Article

Authors

André Caissie, Laurent Riquier, Gilles De Revel, Sophie Tempère

Unité de recherche Oenologie, EA 4577, USC 1366 INRA, ISVV, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux INP, F33882 Villenave d’Ornon France
INRA, ISVV, USC 1366 OEnologie, F-33140, Villenave d’Ornon, France.

Contact the author

Keywords

Wine tasting, Perceptual mechanisms, Mental Imagery, Vocabulary

Tags

IVES Conference Series | OENO IVAS 2019

Citation

Related articles…

A predictive model of spatial Eca variability in the vineyard to support the monitoring of plant status

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" module_font_size="16px" text_orientation="center"...

Projected changes in vine phenology of two varieties with different thermal requirements cultivated in La Mancha DO (Spain) under climate change scenarios

The aim of this work was to analyze the phenology variability of Tempranillo and Chardonnay cultivars, related to the climatic characteristics in La Mancha Designation of Origin, and their potential changes under climate change scenarios. Phenological dates referred to budbreak, flowering, veraison and harvest were analyzed for the period 2000-2019. The weather conditions at daily time scale, recorded during the same period, were also evaluated. The thermal requirements to reach each of these phenological stages were calculated and expressed as the GDD accumulated from DOY=60. Changes in phenology were projected by 2050 and 2070 taking into account those values and the projected temperatures and precipitation, simulated under two Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios –RCP4.5 and RCP8.5– using an ensemble of models. The average phenological dates during the period under study were, April 16th ± 6.6 days and April 5th ± 6.0 days for budbreak, May 31st ± 6.0 days and May 27th ± 5.3 days for flowering, July 26th ± 5.6 days and July 25th ± 5.8 days for veraison, and Ago 23rd ± 10.8 days and Ago 17th ± 9.0 days for harvest, respectively, for Tempranillo and Chardonnay. The projected changes in temperature imply an average change in the maximum growing season (April-August) temperatures of 1.2 and 1.9°C by 2050, and 1.6 and 2.6°C by 2070, under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. A reduction in precipitation is predicted, which vary between 15% for 2050 under RCP4.5 scenario and up to 30% by 2070 under RCP8.5. The advance of the phenological dates for 2050, could be of 6, 7, 7, and 8 days for Tempranillo and 4, 6, 6 and 9 days for Chardonnay, respectively for budbreak, flowering, veraison and harvest under the RCP4.5 scenario. Under the RCP8.5 emission scenario, the advance could be up to 30% higher.

Phenological characterization of a wide range of Vitis Vinifera varieties

In order to study the impact of climate change on Bordeaux grape varieties and to assess the adaptation capacities of candidates to the grape varieties of this wine region to the new climatic conditions, an experimental block design composed of 52 grape varieties was set up in 2009 at the INRAE Bordeaux Aquitaine center. Among the many parameters studied, the three main phenological stages of the vine (budburst, flowering and veraison) have been closely monitored since 2012. Observations for each year, stage and variety were carried out on four independent replicates. Precocity indices have been calculated from the data obtained over the 2012-2021 period (Barbeau et al. 1998). This work allowed to group the phenological behaviour of the grapevine varieties, not only based on the timing of the subsequent developmental stages, but also on the overall precocity of the cycle and the total length of the cycle between budburst and veraison. Results regarding the variability observed among the different grape varieties for these phenological stages are presented as heat maps.

Impact of long term agroecological and conventional practices on subsurface soil microbiota in Macabeu and Xarel·lo vineyards

There is a growing trend on the transition from conventional to agroecological management of vineyards. However, the impact of practices, such as reduced-tillage, organic fertilization and cover crops, is not well-understood regarding the soil microbial diversity, and its relationship with the soil physicochemical properties in the subsurface depth near the rooting zone. Soil bacterial diversity is an important contributor towards plant health, productivity and response to environmental stresses. A field experiment was conducted by sampling subsurface soil bacterial community (NGS and qPCR) near to the root zone of Macabeu and Xarel·lo vineyards, located at the Penedes. 3 organic (ECO) and 3 conventional (CON) vineyards, with more than 10 years of respective management were sampled (n=5 each plot). ECO practices did not affect bacterial and fungal abundance but increased significantly the ammonium oxidizing bacteria and alpha-diversity (Inv.Simpson). Interestingly beta-diversity was significantly affected by the management strategy. ANOSIM-tests revealed a significative effect of the management (ecological vs conventional) and plot, on the soil microbial structure (ASV abundance). Main phyla depicted were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria, whose relative abundances were not affected by the management. EdgeR assay revealed a significant increase of Cyanobacteria and decrease of Gemmatimonadetes and Firmicutes phyla in ECO. Interestingly, the grapevine variety was not correlated with the soil microbial community structure. Mantel-test revealed an important correlation (Spearman) of some physicochemical parameters with the soil microbiota structure, in order of importance: texture, EC, pH Ca/Mg, Mg/P, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, SO42-, and OM. N-NH4 and NTK, which were higher in the ECO managed soils, did not correlated significantly with the soil microbiome population. The results revealed the importance of combining a deep physicochemical characterization of each replicate with the microbial diversity assessment to gain better insights on the relationship between soil microbiome and vineyard management.

Effects of organic mulches on the soil environment and yield of grapevine

Farming management practices aiming at conserving soil moisture have been developed in arid and semiarid-areas facing water scarcity problems. Organic mulching is an effective method to manipulate the crop-growing microclimate increasing crop yield by controlling soil temperature, and retaining soil moisture by reducing soil evaporation. In this sense, the effectiveness of different organic mulching materials (straw mulch and grapevine pruning debris) applied within the row of a vineyard was evaluated on the soil and on the vine in a Tempranillo vineyard located in La Rioja (Spain). Organic mulches were compared with a traditional bare soil management technique (based on the use of herbicides to avoid weed incidence). Mulching coverages favourably influenced the soil water retention throughout all the grapevine vegetative cycle. However, the soil-moisture variation was not the same under different mulching materials, being the straw mulch (SM) the one that retained more water in comparison with grapevine pruning debris (GPD) based-cover. The changes of soil moisture in the upper surface layer (0–10 cm) were highly dynamic, probably due to water vapour fluxes across the soil-atmospheric interface. However, both, SM and GPD reduced these fluctuations as compared with bare soils. A similar trend occurred with soil temperature. Both organic mulches altered soil temperature in comparison with bare soil by reducing soil temperature in summer and raising it in winter. Moreover, the same buffering effect for the temperature on the covered soil also remains in the deeper layers. To conclude, we could see that organic mulching had a positive impact on soil-moisture storage and soil temperature and the extent of this effect depends on the type of mulching materials. These changes led to higher rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductivity compared to bare soils, also favouring crop growth and grape yields.