Wine Preference and Wine Aroma Perception

Abstract

Aroma is the major contributor to overall flavor perception and it is one of the most important intrinsic factors that influence wine quality and consumer preferences. Therefore, a great amount of work in wine chemistry has been devoted to identify wine volatile compounds and to improve the analytical methodologies for this purpose. However, we already know that not all of these compounds have aroma impact. To determine the odorant importance of wine volatile compounds, and therefore its impact in aroma perception and consumer preferences, we need to go one step forward incorporating studies concerning the sensory relevance of wine volatile compounds and understanding other aspects related to interactions among odorants, or among sense modalities, which can also affect the perceived aroma of a wine. Moreover, the existence of matrix effects can impact odorant volatility, aroma release, and the overall perceived aroma intensity and quality. Finally, the effect of human physiology and specifically oral physiology on wine aroma release during wine consumption is currently under study, and it is being proven as an important factor to explain interindividual differences in wine aroma release during wine intake, which might impact aroma perception and wine preferences. This chapter provides an overview of the current state of knowledge of all these aspects giving special attention to the new and merging research in the abovementioned topics.