Perception of finish in white wine

Emily Goodstein

Wine finish is a sensory attribute associated with wine quality. Wine quality as it relates to finish is currently an understudied area of sensory research. This study aimed to perform both a trained and consumer evaluation of finish in white wines, with additional support provided by the analytical analysis of commercially available unoaked and oaked Chardonnay wines. The hypothesis of this study was that certain flavors such as coconut and mushroom would take longer to finish compared to fruit and floral flavors. Model and base wines were prepared through the addition of four chemical compounds; ethyl hexanoate (fruity), linalool (floral), oak lactone (coconut), and 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom). Trained panelists executed time intensity analysis of these four compounds for the aroma attributes of fruity, floral, coconut, and mushroom. Model wine evaluation of single compounds showed fruity flavor finished significantly earlier than all other flavors. Model wine evaluation of multiple flavors in solution indicated that fruity flavor displayed the shortest finish, with mushroom acting as a suppressor of other flavors. Normalization of model wine time intensity analysis showed that data variation was largely attributed to the contrasting relationship between fruity and mushroom flavors. Base wine analysis did not yield significant differences in flavor finish length. A trend of floral flavor suppression by coconut flavor emerged when analyzing time intensity parameters for intensity maximum (Imax) and area under the curve (AUC). Consumer panel analysis of finish of commercially available Washington State Chardonnays indicated that consumers were able to discern differences in finish length between unoaked and high oaked wines. Consumers significantly preferred unoaked wines over high oak wines and were willing to pay higher dollar values per bottle for unoaked wines than high oak wines. Solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was utilized to quantify cis- and trans-oak lactone concentration of unoaked, medium, and high oak Chardonnay samples. Increases in oak treatment corresponded to increases in cis- and trans-oak lactone concentrations. This study provides the first rigorous examination of wine finish and its relationship to both the presence of different flavor compounds and consumer acceptance.

Perception of finish in white wine

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