Sensory profile of portuguese white wines using long-term memory: a novel nationwide approach

Abstract

White wine sensory profiling of all 12 Protected Geographical Indications (PGIs) of mainland Portugal was achieved through completion of extended sensory questionnaires by 20 professional wine experts. No samples were assessed; the experiment was based on memory alone. Three macro-zonings were found and typicality differences were statistically validated and sensory described. PGI MINHO was found the most typical of all PGIs, with several extreme rates on Color, Aroma and Taste. SOUTHERN cluster of the four meridional PGIs presented several extreme, therefore typical, sensory assessments, mostly opposite to the profile of PGI Minho. Color tonality, alcohol and acidity were mutually related and respective variations were correlated with published findings and expressed as key factors for regional macro-zoning differentiation. Moreover, with the proposed methodology it was possible to achieve a novel nationwide sensory characterization of PGIs, overcoming ongoing macroscaling and sample representativeness limitations and envisaging new nation-sized sensory studies.

Practical ApplicationsThis innovative nationwide study on white wine typicality, namely on sensory profiles of PGI (and PDO) certified wines, may contribute to the debate of scale factors that result in significant gains in areas such as wine certification (3-5 certification boards instead of existent 12), admission of transregional wine certification for high volume brands and a better and clearer communication and marketing that would reach a larger group of consumers with condensed information on typicality. Moreover, to develop a method that bypass the sampling problem of wines that would be representative of a given PGI or, in general, a nation-sized area may be considered useful and widely applicable to sensory studies.