NEW TREATMENTS FOR TEMPRANILLO WINES BY USING CABERNET SAUVIGNON VINE-SHOOTS AND MICRO-OXYGENATION

Mycobiota encountered from vine to wine is a complex and diversified ecosystem that may impact grape quality at harvest and the sensorial properties of wines, thus leading to off-flavors [1-3]. Among known off-flavors in wine, fresh mushroom aroma (FMA) has been linked to some mold species, naturally pre-sent on grapes, producing specific volatile organic compounds (VOC) [4-5]. The most well-known are 1-octen-3-ol and 1-octen-3-one, although many other VOC are likely involved. To better understand the FMA defect, biotic and abiotic factors impacting growth kinetics and VOC production of selected fungal species in must media and on grapes were studied.

All along the red winemaking process, many microorganisms develop in wine, some being beneficial and essential, others being feared spoilers. One of the most feared microbial enemy of wine all around the world is Brettanomyces bruxellensis. Indeed, in red wines, this yeast produces volatile phenols, molecules associated with a flavor described as “horse sweat”, “burnt plastic” or “leather”. To produce significant and detectable concentrations of these undesired molecules, the yeasts should first grow and become numerous enough. Even if the genetic group of the strain present and the cellar temperature may modulate the yeast growth rate¹ and thus the risk of spoilage, the main factor seems to be the wines themselves, some being much more permissive to B. bruxellensis development than others.

Wines with tropical fruit aromas have become increasingly more available1,2. With increased availability of different wine styles, it has become important to understand the compounds that cause the fruity aromas in wine. Previous work using micro fermentations showed that fermentation temperature gradients and time on skins resulted in an increase in thiol and ester compounds post fermentation and these compounds are known to cause tropical fruit aroma in wines³. This work aimed to scale up these fermentations/operations to determine if the desired aromas could still be achieved and if there is a perceivable difference in tropical fruit aromas, liking, and emotional response in the wines at the consumer level.

This paper focuses on how taste in wine (and other foods) changes and the implications of this process
for producers and merchants.
It draws primarily on the changing taste of and taste for champagne in Britain in the 19th century. Between 1850 and 1880 champagne went from a dosage level of around 20% (20 grams sugar / litre) to 0%. Champagne became the ‘dinner wine of the elite – drunk with roast meat and savoury dishes.
Contemporaries accepted that while most people could distinguish the taste of good champagne from that of bad, very few could distinguish very good from good.

The vocabulary used to describe wine aroma is commonly organized according to color, raising the question of whether they reflect the reality of olfactory perception. Previous studies have assumed this convention of color-aroma matching, and have investigated color’s influence on the perception of aroma only in dyed white wine or in red wine from particular places of origin. Here 48 white and red varietal wines from around the world were evaluated in black glasses then in clear glasses by a panel of wine experts, who gave intensity ratings for aroma attributes commonly used by wine professionals. In black glasses, aromas conventionally associated with white wine were perceived in the red wines, and vice versa.