Sensory profile of Airen grapes and their musts for the prediction of the wine characteristics

• Published in: Journal of food quality Vol. 18; no. 6
• Main Authors: Salvador, M.D. (Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.), Gonzalez-Vinas, M.A, Barba, P, Martin-Alvarez, P.J, Cabezudo, M.D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.12.1995
• Subjects: ACIDEZ; ACIDITE; ANALISIS ORGANOLEPTICO; ANALYSE ORGANOLEPTIQUE; MOSTO DE UVA; MOUT DE VIN; PROPIEDADES ORGANOLEPTICAS; PROPRIETE ORGANOLEPTIQUE; RAISIN; UVA; VINIFICACION; VINIFICATION
• ISSN: 0146-9428; 1745-4557
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-4557.1995.tb00397.x

Eight sensory attributes, freely chosen by the panelists, permitted the differentiation of Airen grapes belonging to five Spanish viticultural subzones (Moral, Sierra, Sudeste, Vega and Abertura) by means of their spiderweb diagrams. Another nine attributes distinguished the corresponding musts. Application of PCA to the sensory scores revealed that five attributes explained 81.9% of the variance existing among grapes grown in the different subzones. A similar result was obtained for the musts. Grapes from two of the five subzones, Moral and Sierra, yielded the highest scores with regard to overall impression. Consequently, from the results obtained it is advisable to harvest Airen grapes when the sugar is close to 200 g/L, and total acidity is less than 5 g/L (tartaric acid), while they still present green hues and a berry diameter between 1.3-1.5 cm. In this way the fruity character and absence of astringency was ensured in the obtained musts, both attributes being desirable in order to achieve good quality wines