Consumer responses to smoke-impacted pinot noir wine and the influence of label concepts on perception

While wildfire's impacts on wine have been considered a defect due to the introduction of smoke-related off-flavours, limited studies have investigated consumers responses to smoke-impacted wines. The aims of this work were (i) to explore how New Zealand consumers respond to smoke-impacted wine; (ii) confirm whether clusters of consumers existed and characterise them by their liking of smoky flavours in foods/beverages and subjective wine knowledge; and (iii) explore how different label concepts influence consumer responses. Participants responded to liking, emotions, and perceived sensory attributes of five blends of smoke-impacted wine with non-impacted wine, along with a smoke-impacted wine presented with four different label concepts. Two clusters of consumers were identified, with one disliking the smoke-impacted wine (smoke-dislikers) and the other cluster liking (smoke-liker). The smoke-liker cluster indicated a greater liking of smoke flavours in foods and beverages, along with a higher level of subjective wine knowledge. For the labels, the introduction of the label concept significantly increased liking of the wine for the smoke-dislikers, as well as had the power to elicit different emotions and sensory experiences. This research provides vital information to the wine industry as they adapt to future wildfire years, along with how the distinct sensory profile may not be detrimental to consumer acceptance and can be modulated by the type of information on label. Further research is needed to explore how different populations and wine styles correlate with these findings, and the effects of varying levels of smoke exposure in Pinot noir and other grape varietals.