Influence of wine composition on consumer perception and acceptance of Brettanomyces metabolites using temporal check-all-that-apply methodology
Graphical abstract
Introduction
Wine spoilage by Brettanomyces bruxellensis is of great concern to the wine industry (Boulton, Singleton, Bisson, & Kunkee, 2013; Romano, Perello, Lonvaud-Funel, Sicard, & De Revel, 2009; Suárez, Suárez-Lepe, Morata, & Calderón, 2007). Common sensory descriptors associated with Brettanomyces-spoiled wines include leather, barnyard, medicinal, and sweaty due to the synthesis of 4-ethylphenol (4-EP), 4-ethylguaiacol (4-EG), and isovaleric acid (IA) (Curtin et al., 2008; Romano et al., 2009).
The detection thresholds for 4-EP and 4-EG have been reported, and are of importance to winemakers to better understand the influence of spoilage (Romano et al., 2009). Reported threshold values for 4-EP range from 230 to 650 μg/L (Chatonnet, Dubourdie, Boidron, & Pons, 1992; Lattey, Bramley, & Francis, 2010; Petrozziello et al., 2014;), with a preference threshold at 650 μg/L (Chatonnet et al., 1992). In addition, threshold values for 4-EG encompass a range of 33–135 μg/L (Nikfardjam, May, & Tschiersch, 2009; Suárez et al., 2007; Wedral, Shewfelt, & Frank, 2010) while those for IA have been reported at 33.4 μg/L (Ferreira, López, & Cacho, 2000) and 72 μg/L in Pinotage red wine (Botha, 2010). While lower concentrations of these metabolites can contribute to wine complexity, aroma can become overwhelmed at higher concentrations (Petrozziello et al., 2014; Wedral et al., 2010).
Consumer perception and judgments of Brettanomyces spoiled wine depends upon several factors, including individual and cultural preferences (Schumaker, Chandra, Malfeito-Ferreira, & Ross, 2017; Wedral et al., 2010). In general, most studies imply consumers dislike wine infected with Brettanomyces, and consider the presence of attributes including Band-Aid®,1 and barnyard as negative (Curtin et al., 2008; Lattey et al., 2010). Furthermore, the sensory drivers of wine quality and preferences for Brettanomyces wines may differ between wine experts and naïve consumers (Lattey et al., 2010; Sáenz-Navajas et al., 2015). In the evaluation of discrimination capacity of Brettanomyces aromas, tasting qualification and profession have been reported to influence the ability to detect a Brettanomyces profile. Winemakers and those holding an academic qualification in wine tasting have a greater detection capacity for Brettanomyces, specifically for 4-EP and 4-EG (Tempère et al., 2014). Due to these differences, evaluating both experts and naïve consumers to assist in product development testing and research decisions is of great interest (Lattey et al., 2010). In the present study, consumers were assessed on their level of wine knowledge by completing a questionnaire on wine and winemaking; these data were used to assess differences in overall liking of each sample due to wine knowledge levels of consumers.
Several parameters should be considered in the evaluation of wine quality, with attributes including those assessed in the mouth and those assessed after the wine has been swallowed (Cardebat & Figuet, 2004; Lecocq & Visser, 2006). Wine finish refers to sensations that linger in the mouth after a sample has been swallowed or expectorated. The duration of wine finish can last anywhere from a few seconds to as long as several minutes (Jackson, 2009). Furthermore, wine duration is influenced by the presence of different wine flavor characteristics. Specifically, in white wine, the attributes of fruity and floral have a shorter finish time while oak, spice, and earthy flavors typically have a longer finish (Goodstein, Bohlscheid, Evans, & Ross, 2014; Jackson, 2009). Additionally, alteration to the wine matrix including an increase in ethanol increases the duration of bell pepper, coconut, or floral finishes in red wine finish (Baker & Ross, 2014). The influence of wine characteristics on the perception of Brettanomyces has been investigated, with results suggesting the aroma compounds responsible for certain wine style characteristics interact with key Brettanomyces flavor metabolites. Specifically, Brettanomyces may be less obvious in wines exhibiting green or oaky characteristics (Curtin et al., 2008).
As a recently introduced method, Temporal Check-All-That-Apply (TCATA) extends Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) to provide a more complete description of the dynamics of the sensory characteristics of a product (Castura, Antúnez, Giménez, & Ares, 2016; Castura, Baker, & Ross, 2016). TCATA has effectively been used with both trained and naïve consumers (Jaeger et al., 2017; Oliveira et al., 2015). TCATA has been applied in the evaluation of flavor, taste and mouthfeel finish attributes in both red wines (Baker, Castura, & Ross, 2016), and sparkling wines (McMahon, Culver, Castura, & Ross, 2017). While consumers have reported TCATA to be an easy, non-tedious task, using TCATA requires consumers to focus their attention on several attributes in addition to checking and unchecking these characteristics as they perceive them in a sample (Ares et al., 2016). When using TCATA with naïve consumers, a short familiarization step in which consumers are exposed to the techniques, tasks, and general timing involved in TCATA prior to sample evaluations has been recommended (Jaeger et al., 2017). For the current study, a consumer panel with a brief familiarization session was used in applying TCATA. As this method has not yet been applied towards evaluating the sensory properties of Brettanomyces spoilage, the objective of the current study was to evaluate the influence of oak and green characteristics on the temporality of red wine finish, specifically in-mouth evaluations of wines containing 4-EP, 4-EG, and IA.
Section snippets
Materials
Food grade 4-EP, 4-EG, IA, 3-isobutyl-2-methoxypyrazine and whiskey lactone, in a combination of cis and trans forms, were purchased from Sigma Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). Reagent water was purified by Milli-Q (Millipore, Bedford, MA, USA). The filtration unit for purification of deionized water, used for palate cleansing during the sensory test was purchased from EcoLab (Spokane, WA, USA).
Wine treatments
Using a commercial Shiraz wine (Charles Shaw Shiraz, Ceres, CA, USA), three wine compositions were
Wine chemistry
Using GC/MS, baseline concentrations of 4-EP and 4-EG in the red wine were determined. In the base red wine, both compounds were below the limit of detection which was 250 μg/L and 50 μg/L, respectively for the method used. As the level of detection for both 4-EP and 4-EG were well below reported threshold values of 605 μg/L and 110 μg/L (Chatonnet, Dubourdieu, Boidron, & Lavigne, 1993), respectively, the base wine was considered to have such a low concentration of Brettanomyces metabolites,
Conclusions
In this study, wine aroma, flavor, finish and overall liking of wines at two varying compositions and levels of Brettanomyces metabolites were evaluated using a consumer panel. Both TCATA and a ranking test were used to evaluate wine flavor and mouthfeel, while CATA was used to evaluate wine aroma. Differences in flavor and aroma attribute citation across all samples were described by consumers. More specifically, there was a reduction in fruity aroma for all wine compositions at both low and
Acknowledgements
Washington State Wine Commission.
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