Abstract
Wine mouthfeel significantly contributes to the overall sensory perception and quality of wines. However, the influence of dynamic viscosity on the mouthfeel of dry table wines is still not fully understood. The three objectives of this study were to i) determine the perceived viscosity difference threshold in wine using wine/xanthan gum solutions, ii) measure dynamic viscosity levels of Australian commercial dry Shiraz and Chardonnay table wines, and iii) investigate the relationship between wine sample dynamic viscosity and chemical parameters i.e. residual sugar, ethanol and pH. A wine viscosity difference threshold value of 0.138 mPa·s at 20°C was determined by ascending 2-alternative forced choice (2-AFC) difference threshold tests with a sensory panel (n = 45). The dynamic viscosity for commercial Chardonnay wines at 20°C ranged from 1.448 mPa·s to 1.529 mPa·s and from 1.488 mPa·s to 1.695 mPa·s for the Shiraz wines. These results indicate that based on the determined threshold values, tasters could likely differentiate wines in terms of the viscosity within the viscosity range of this sample set of Shiraz, but not Chardonnay wines.
Furthermore, significant correlations between dynamic viscosity and ethanol concentration, but not for pH and residual sugar were found for both varieties, indicating that ethanol may have been the main compositional factor that increased dynamic viscosity in commercial dry wines.
- Received July 2018.
- Revision received October 2018.
- Accepted October 2018.
- Published online December 2018
- Copyright © 2018 by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture. All rights reserved.
Sign in for ASEV members
ASEV Members, please sign in at ASEV to access the journal online.
Sign in for Institutional and Non-member Subscribers
Log in using your username and password
Pay Per Article - You may access this article (from the computer you are currently using) for 2 day for US$10.00
Regain Access - You can regain access to a recent Pay per Article purchase if your access period has not yet expired.