PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lukas Danner
AU  - Jun Niimi
AU  - Yuxing Wang
AU  - Marcell Kustos
AU  - Richard A. Muhlack
AU  - Susan E.P. Bastian
TI  - Dynamic Viscosity Levels of Dry Red and White Wines and Determination of Perceived Viscosity Difference Thresholds
AID  - 10.5344/ajev.2018.18062
DP  - 2018 Dec 21
TA  - American Journal of Enology and Viticulture
PG  - ajev.2018.18062
4099  - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2018/12/13/ajev.2018.18062.short
4100  - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2018/12/13/ajev.2018.18062.full
AB  - 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.