Understanding the relationship between tropical fruit aroma, acceptance, and emotional response in chardonnay wines.

Tropical fruit aromas are prominent in many white wines. The purpose of this work was to determine if winemaking practices could impact the tropical fruit aromas in the Chardonnay wines and how those aroma differences influenced wine consumers acceptance and emotional responses. Four treatments were tested at varying fermentation temperature gradients and skin contact times: control fermentation at 13 °C with no skin contact (Control), fermentation at 13 °C with 18 h of skin contact (SC), fermentation temperature gradient by time (20 °C for 4 days then reduced to 13 °C) with no skin contact (FG), fermentation temperature gradient by time with 18 h of skin contact (SCFG). Acceptance, using a 7-point hedonic scale, showed there was not a significant difference between treatments. Emotional response, using a 5-point Rate-All-That-Apply (RATA) scale, showed significant differences for 'calm' and 'disgusted' emotions. Check-all-that-apply (CATA) for aroma descriptors showed that Control is described using aromas of passionfruit, lychee, and pome fruit; SC had aromas of grapefruit and floral; FG was described as having melon, lychee, and pineapple aromas; and SCFG was described with aromas of lemon/lime, mango, and guava. Positive emotions were associated with fruity aromas in the wines, although no difference in acceptance was found. Winemaking treatments impacted the aroma profile of chardonnay wine, with tropical aromas evoking positive emotions in consumers. The relationship between specific aromas and consumers emotion responses can be an important tool to understand the factors behind a wine's success or lack thereof. Moreover, it can help with the creation of new wine products.

Revealing the sensory impact of different levels and combinations of esters and volatile thiols in Chardonnay wines.

The assessment of different aroma families on tropical fruit aroma perception is still not well understood. This study aimed to investigate the effect of esters and volatile thiols on tropical fruit aroma perception in white wines. Four levels of thiols (none, low, medium and high) and three levels of esters (none, low, medium) were added to a dearomatized white wine base in a full factorial design. Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) was used to determine the aroma descriptors that most differentiated the wines followed by Sensory Descriptive Analysis (SDA) to evaluate the intensity of those significant aroma attributes. More than 78% of the total variance was described in the first two dimensions when using Canonical Variate Analysis. Tropical fruit aromas were associated with wines containing different levels of esters and ester-thiol combinations. Volatile thiols alone imparted an earthy aroma and were grouped with the control wine. The different ester-thiol combinations altered the tropical fruit aroma quality in the wines from citrus to passionfruit, pineapple and guava. Understanding the cause of tropical fruit aroma allows for targeted processing to achieve the desired wine sensory quality.