Astringency Characterization of Tannat Red Wine
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ASTRINGENCY CHARACTERIZATION OF TANNAT RED WINE Leticia Vidal Doctorado en Química Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República Thesis Directors: Dr. Gastón Ares and Dr. Eduardo Boido Montevideo, Uruguay - 2018 ABSTRACT Tannat is a red variety of Vitis vinifera that has become the emblematic red wine variety of Uruguay. Tannat wine is characterized by its high total phenolic content, which provides a good potential for aging and differential sensory characteristics. The aim of the present thesis was to characterize the astringency of Uruguayan Tannat wines from both a physicochemical and sensory perspective. Astringency is a complex and time- dependent attribute, which exhibits buildup and carry over effects upon repeated ingestions, and is related to several subtle sensations that can be perceived simultaneously. This poses several challenges for the accurate sensory characterization of Tannat wine astringency, which have been addressed during the development of the thesis. First, qualitative studies with consumers were carried out to understand their conceptualization of astringency and the vocabulary they use for describing this complex attribute. Basic research about the applicability of different palate cleansers for wine astringency evaluation was also conducted. The astringency of 40 commercial wines was characterized using static and dynamic sensory methods: Time-Intensity (TI), check- all-that-apply (CATA) questions and Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS). The TI evaluations performed by a panel of trained assessors showed that commercial Tannat wines mainly differed in intensity-related parameters rather than in astringency development over time, although the variability was moderate. CATA questions involving 16 astringency sub-qualities proved to be a valuable tool to describe and differentiate a large sample set of Tannat wine samples based on their astringency characteristics. Different styles of Tannat wine were identified, which were described using a wide range of sub-qualities, from silky and velvety to harsh and aggressive. The phenolic profile of the 40 commercial Tannat wines was also characterized using reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer (HPLC-MS) and its relationship with sensory astringency was explored using boosted regression trees. The total content of condensed tannins as well and some specific phenolic compounds were identified as the main predictors of sensory astringency. Finally, the comparison of astringency evaluation of trained assessors and experts showed that their intensity assessments were partly related, but their description of astringency sub-qualities differed. Insights on the astringency sub-qualities related to expert’s perception of astringency quality were also revealed. Results from the thesis provide both methodological insights about astringency evaluation, as well as applied information about the astringency of Tannat wine, which could be highly valuable for the Uruguayan wine industry. i RESUMEN La uva Tannat es una variedad de Vitis vinifera para elaborar vinos tintos, que se ha convertido en la cepa emblemática del Uruguay. El vino Tannat se caracteriza por su elevado contenido de compuestos fenólicos, que le confiere un gran potencial para el envejecimiento y características sensoriales diferenciales. El objetivo de la presente tesis fue caracterizar la astringencia de vinos Tannat uruguayos desde una perspectiva sensorial y fisicoquímica. La astringencia es un atributo complejo y dependiente del tiempo, que presenta efectos de acumulación por ingestas repetidas, y que involucra diversas sensaciones que son percibidas simultáneamente. Estas particularidades representan diversos desafíos para caracterizar adecuadamente la astringencia del vino Tannat, los cuales han sido abordados durante el desarrollo de la tesis. En primer lugar, se realizaron estudios cualitativos con consumidores para entender su conceptualización de astringencia y el vocabulario que utilizan para describir esta compleja sensación. También se realizó investigación básica sobre la aplicabilidad de distintos borradores para la evaluación de astringencia en vino tinto. Se caracterizó la astringencia de 40 vinos Tannat comerciales utilizando metodologías sensoriales estáticas y dinámicas: tiempo-intensidad (TI), preguntas “marque todo lo que corresponda” (CATA) y Dominancia Temporal de Sensaciones (TDS). Las evaluaciones de TI realizadas por un panel de jueces sensoriales entrenados reveló que los vinos Tannat comerciales se diferenciaron en parámetros vinculados a la intensidad de astringencia, más que a su evolución en el tiempo, aunque la variabilidad fue moderada. Las preguntas CATA incluyendo 16 sub-cualidades de astringencia resultaron ser una valiosa herramienta para describir y diferenciar un conjunto numeroso de muestras de vino Tannat en función de sus características de astringencia. Se identificaron distintos estilos de vino Tannat, los cuales fueron descriptos por una amplia gama de sub- cualidades de astringencia, desde sedoso y aterciopelado hasta que raspa y agresivo. Además se determinó el perfil fenólico de los 40 vinos Tannat comerciales utilizando cromatografía líquida de alta performance en fase reversa, acoplada a un espectrómetro de masas (HPLC-MS), y se exploró su relación con la astringencia sensorial utilizando árboles de regresión (Boosted Regression Trees). El contenido total de taninos condensados, así como algunos compuestos fenólicos específicos, fueron identificados como los principales predictores de la astringencia sensorial. Finalmente, la comparación de la evaluación de astringencia de jueces entrenados y expertos reveló que las medidas de intensidad estuvieron parcialmente relacionadas, pero su descripción de las sub-qualidades de astringencia fue diferente. Además se identificaron características de astringencia relacionadas a la percepción de calidad de astringencia iii de los expertos. Los resultados de la tesis aportan conocimiento sobre aspectos metodológicos de la evaluación de astringencia, así cómo información aplicada sobre la astringencia de vino Tannat, lo que podría ser sumamente valioso para la industria vitivinícola uruguaya. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis was carried out in Facultad de Química of Universidad de la República (Uruguay) from 2014 to 2018. The thesis was framed in a project that received financial support from Comisión Sectorial de Investigación Científica (Universidad de la República, Uruguay). I would like to thank Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (Uruguay) for the scholarship granted from March 2015 to February 2017 (Grant number POS_NAC_2014_1_102806), and to Comisión Académica de Posgrado (Universidad de la República, Uruguay) for the scholarship to finish my thesis. I am also greatful to PEDECIBA Química (Universidad de la República, Uruguay) for the financial support they gave me throughout my postgraduate studies. I would also like to thank some wineries for kindly providing some of the wine samples used in this study: Agroland S.A., Bodega Bouza, Establecimiento Juanicó, Filgueira Viñedos & Bodega, and Juan Toscanini e Hijos S.A. I really appreciate your interest in my research, and your willingness to help me to achieve this goal. I want to share my deepest gratefulness to Gastón Ares and Eduardo Boido, who guided me through the development of this thesis. Eduardo, thank you for your valuable comments and for sharing your knowledge about wines with me. Thank you also for being such an easy going person, I really enjoyed all our meetings. Gastón, there are not enough words to express how grateful I am to you. First of all, thank you for trusting me and for encouraging me to undertake postgraduate studies. Thank you for your friendship, your guidance, your advice and your support. Thank you for being much more than a supervisor, and for keeping me on track in those moments when I felt I would never finish this thesis. I am most grateful with all the people that at some point contributed to the experimental work of this thesis. To all the anonymous consumers who voluntarily participated in the qualitative studies, as well as to the wine experts who took part in one of the studies, thank you for investing your time and effort to help me with my research. To all the trained assessors who participated at any stage of the thesis, thank you for your patience, willingness and amazing discipline. Gabriel, Mariela, Ana A., Ana G., Karina, Gastón, Lucía, Valentina, Laura, Rafael, Marcelo, Luis, Daniel, Mariana and Florencia, I thank you all for your effort, for always being interested in improving, and for standing me for so long (some of you almost two years!). There are many people who helped me with the sensory and physicochemical experiments, and I want to thank all of them. Luchi, Gastón, Ana, Mariana and Florencia N., thank you for your help with all the activities involving trained assessors. Florencia A. v and Felipe, thank you for your help in the study with wine experts. I also want to thank Alejandra, Tania, Rafael and David, for opening the doors of their lab and helping me with all the HPLC-MS analyses. Thanks to Karina, Eduardo B., Eduardo D. and Laura for their help and the space they gave me in their labs to perform some of the physicochemical analyses. Luchi deserves special thanks for her help with all the studies of this thesis. She worked shoulder to shoulder with me, and I would definitely have not finished this thesis without her. To my colleagues