RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Use of Production Practices and Sensory Attributes to Characterize Loire Valley Red Wines
JF American Journal of Enology and Viticulture
JO Am. J. Enol. Vitic.
FD American Society for Enology and Viticulture
SP ajev.2013.12141
DO 10.5344/ajev.2013.12141
A1 Marie Thiollet-Scholtus
A1 Soline Caillé
A1 Alain Samson
A1 Jean-Jacques Lambert
A1 René Morlat
YR 2013
UL http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2013/11/05/ajev.2013.12141.abstract
AB Quality wines are typically the product of soil, climate, and wine production practices. Sensory attributes are increasingly used to distinguish among Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) wines. Since 2010, the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) is now taking all such parameters into account in the official ‘terroir’ definition. However, links between production practices and sensory attributes in geographically circumscribed PDO areas have not yet been investigated. This paper assesses production practices and sensory attributes of distinct PDO wines, within the same area. The study also identifies relationships between production practices and sensory attributes of these PDO wines. A survey was conducted to characterize production practices of thirty-three commercially produced PDO wines from the Loire Valley, France. Vineyard training systems, viticulture, harvest timing, winemaking and aging practices were studied. Descriptive sensory analysis was conducted to characterize the significant sensory attributes of these same wines. PDO wines were separated from one another by classical statistical analyses. About 25 percent of the analyzed production practices and less than fifty percent of the analyzed sensory attributes could differentiate PDO wines produced in the same area: respectively, percentage of Cabernet franc, time of leaf removal, harvest date, yield, duration of fermentation, duration of aging and use of oak, color intensity, viscosity, cloudiness, blackcurrant, prune, spicy, moldy, animal, bitterness and astringency. The study also identified links between some production practices and sensory attributes. The results of the study demonstrate that, under similar climatic conditions and soil characteristics, production practices and sensory attributes can distinguish PDO wines in well-defined geographic areas.