Terroir 2020 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Regionality in Australian Shiraz: Sensory profiles of wines from six regions and their associations with chemical, geographical and climatic elements

Regionality in Australian Shiraz: Sensory profiles of wines from six regions and their associations with chemical, geographical and climatic elements

Abstract

Aim: Regional characters relating to Shiraz in Australia are not well documented. This study aimed to characterize the sensory, chemical and climate profiles of wines from various Australian Shiraz producing regions. 

Methods and Results: Sets of wines (22 to 28) from six prominent Australian Shiraz producing regions were assessed by groups of regional winemakers using a rapid sensory method called Pivot© Profile (PP) to obtain biplots of their sensory characteristics. Three or four samples from each region were selected using Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC) analysis of the PP data resulting in a subset of twenty-two wines, which were then assessed using sensory descriptive analysis. A comprehensive chemical profile was also undertaken, including monoterpenes, norisoprenoids, low molecular weight sulphur compounds, oak volatiles, esters, and non-volatile compounds. Seventeen season-specific climate indices were also complied for each sample. Multivariate analyses (Principal Component Analysis and Partial Least-Squares Regression) showed that wines with stalky/cooked vegetal sensory attributes had higher cinnamate esters and dimethylsulfide, relating to a later budbreak and harvest day; wines with higher monoterpenes were associated with floral aroma; higher solar radiation was linked to higher tannin and colour density values, norisoprenoid and phenylethyl acetate concentrations and an association with dark fruit/dried fruit and tannin/colour attributes. 

Conclusions:

Distinctive sensory and chemical fingerprints exist for the specific regions studied, and the climatic profiles were strongly associated with key compounds influencing sensory differences. 

Significance and Impact of Study: Relating multiple site- and season-specific climate measures to chemical composition and characteristic sensory attributes of regional Australian Shiraz wines can help grape growers, winemakers and wine marketers better understand and promote the effect of place on their wines. 

DOI:

Publication date: March 17, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2020

Type: Video

Authors

Wes Pearson1,2*, Leigh Schmidtke1, I. Leigh Francis2, Sijing Li1, Andrew Hall1,3, B. Thomas Carr1,4, John Blackman1

1National Wine and Grape Industry Centre, Charles Sturt University, School of Agricultural and Wine Science, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
2The Australian Wine Research Institute, PO Box 197, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia
3Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, PO Box 789, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia
4Carr Consulting, 1215 Washington Ave., Wilmette, Illinois, USA

Contact the author

Keywords

Wine regionality, Australian Shiraz, wine sensory profile, wine chemical profile, wine climate profile

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2020

Citation

Related articles…

New food trend ahead? Highlighting the nutritional benefits of grapevine leaves

The wine industry produces an enormous amount of waste every year. A wider inclusion of disregarded by-products in the human diet or its use as a source of bioactive compounds is a good strategy for reducing waste. It will not only introduce an added value to a waste product but also come upon the European Union and United Nations’ demands towards more sustainable agricultural approaches and circular economy.

The Fontevraud charter in favour of the viticultural landscapes

The viticultural regions of the world have the advantage of a remarkable diversity of landscapes which are the reflection of the winegrowers’ capacity to adapt to the different geomorphological and climatic specificities of the terroirs, more generally speaking, this aesthetic and heritage aspect of the terroir is also part and parcel of the notion of sustainable viticulture.

A NEW STRATEGY AND METHODOLOGY FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYPHENOLS IN FINING PRECIPITATE

Polyphenols are secondary metabolite widely distributed in plant kingdom such as in fruits, in grapes and in wine. During the winemaking process, polyphenols are extract from the skin and seed of the berries. Fining is an important winemaking step just before bottling which has an impact on wine stabilization and clarification. Most the time, fining agent are animal or vegetal protein while some of them can be synthetic polymer like PVPP or natural origin like bentonite.

NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE EFFECT OF TORULASPORA DELBRUECKII/SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE INOCULATION STRATEGY ON MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION PERFORMANCE

Winemaking is influenced by micro-organisms, which are largely responsible for the quality of the product. In this context, Non-Saccharomyces and Saccharomyces species are of great importance not only because it influences the development of alcoholic fermentation (AF) but also on the achievement of malolactic fermentation (MLF). Among these yeasts, Torulaspora delbrueckii allows in sequential inoculation with strains of S. cerevisiae shorter MLF realizations [5] . Little information is available on the temporal effect of the presence of T. delbrueckii on (i) the evolution of AF and (ii) the MLF performance.

Comparison of the skin resistance of several grape varieties in relation to their physico-chemical properties

The purpose of this study is to compare the skin resistance (SR) of the grapes with physico-chemical propertiess using a stong dataset and multidimentional statistical analysis .
A recent study has shown the role skin resistance plays against pest invasion but skin resistance could be a useful agronomic parameter, for example in the choice of the type of winemaking, by influencing the quantity of juice during crushing and maceration.