Sensory dimension of wine typicality related to a terroir by Quantitative Descriptive Analysis, Just About Right...

The distinctive French wine style "Anjou Village Brissac" was investigated through Quantitative Descriptive Analysis by a sensory expert panel, through Just About Right analysis by wine experts, and through assessment of the typicality by wine experts. Typicality was defined as perceived representativeness, with good examples of the concept being considered more typical. Wine experts were producers, winemakers, and enologists from the area. Three types of data were used: (i) quantitative descriptive data on a non-structured scale, (ii) preference data that corresponded to a global typicality index for the wine on a non-structured scale, (iii) data collected on a Just About Right non-structured scale, where the middle of the scale, for each attribute, corresponded to Just About Right, an ideal of typicality for wine experts. The two panels, sensorial experts and wine experts, rated 24 Cabernet franc wines from different French "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée", including two-thirds "Anjou Village Brissac". Single factor analysis was performed on each panel's data, and results were compared. Multifactor analysis was performed with the data of both panels to highlight the correspondence between the panels. ANOVAs conducted on the differences to the ideal scores permitted the wines to be sorted according to the similarity of their profiles. A penalty analysis was performed to determine, for each attribute, if the rankings on the Just About Right scale were related to significantly different results in the preference scores. Therefore, multivariate analysis of Just About Right scales served (i) to show an ideal point, (ii) to point out the distance between each product, (iii) and to evaluate the consensus of producers. The results showed the relevance of the sensory expert panels in discriminating the products. The panel of wine experts proved relevant for characterizing the global quality of the wines but did not appear consensual for some attributes. Some attributes from the wine expert panel could be explained by precise descriptors generated by the sensory expert panel. Typicality ratings were considered in relation with descriptive ratings, for example astringency and color attributes. The results presented in this study suggest the usefulness of these sensory techniques for describing wine typicality related to a terroir.