Wine Cuality™ - An alternative method for the assessment of wine sensory quality by experts

Wine quality has traditionally been evaluated by experts on a 100-point scale, with no explanation of how the score was derived. Yet, sensory quality is a multidimensional concept that may include trueness to style, absence of defects, presence of desirable sensory attributes, balance and complexity. The objective of this study was to propose Wine Cuality™ - a method for the assessment of white and red wine sensory quality, which combines an overall quality rating on a 100-point scale with just-about-right (JAR) ratings for select attributes, a check-all-that-apply (CATA) task from a list of 20 to 30 sensory and holistic attributes, and some open comments. Eighty-two wine experts used Wine Cuality to assess the sensory quality of a set of experimental and commercial California wines. The experts consistently discriminated among the wines on the basis of sensory quality and provided a thorough understanding of the positive and negative drivers of sensory quality through their JAR ratings, CATA selections and open comments for both the white and red varietals in this study. Expectedly, they rated the quality of barrel-aged wines higher than that of stainless-steel finished wines. And notably, they correctly downgraded the quality of smoke-tainted wines in the experimental design. The method can be applied at different production stages: post-fermentation, post-barrel aging (finished wine), or in the context of a wine judging. Collectively, these results demonstrate the applicability and usefulness of Wine Cuality as an alternative method for the assessment of wine sensory quality by experts.