Wine World Research Articles

Bioflavour Conference 2018—Biotechnology for Flavors, Fragrances, and Functional Ingredients

The "Bioflavour 2018-Biotechnology of Flavors, Fragrances, and Functional Ingredients" conference was held from September 18th to 21st, 2018 at the DECHEMA house in Frankfurt, Germany. The conference attracted more than 190 participants from over 25 countries, with about 40% share from industry. Particular sessions of Bioflavour 2018 focused on "flavor perception and biotechnology", "microbial cell factories", "novel pathways, enzymes, and biocatalysts", "technological and regulatory aspects of flavor and fragrance biotechnology", "advanced analytics and novel compounds", "plant biosynthesis and plant enzymes", "modern biotechnology in the world of wine", "receptors, flavors, and bioactives", and "bioprocess development and downstream processing". At Bioflavour 2018, both cutting-edge science from renowned academic research groups and current innovation from this modern biotechnology industry were presented and discussed. This special issue highlights a selection of 12 manuscripts from oral presentations and poster contributions.

Emotions among winery tourists: new vs old wine world

PurposeThis study aims to compare the influence of emotions produced by the wine and the winery visit on wine purchase intent at two destinations with different cultural views (old and new wine worlds).Design/methodology/approachA quantitative approach was adopted using a total sample of 600 tourists from two different wineries, one in La Rioja (Spain, Europe) and the other in Baja California (Mexico, North America). All the tourists surveyed at the European winery were European, and all the tourists surveyed at the North American winery were North American.FindingsThe results expand on previous research. At the tested wineries, the emotions produced by the wine (product) had a greater influence than those produced by the winery (environment); however, the intensity of their respective influences varied depending on whether the winery was in the new or old wine world.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the wine description was controlled by showing the same offer at both destinations, the winery visit experience was neither controlled nor controllable because the tours were real. Additionally, although the research variables were very similar in this study, the effect of differences in income between the tourists from the different regions was not considered.Practical implicationsWinery managers wishing to positively influence wine purchases at their establishments should focus their efforts on generating high positive emotions through the wine offer. They should also keep in mind the possible need for different approaches because of cultural differences between the tourists (North American or European) visiting the winery. To sell wine and build their brand, they should identify those tourists truly interested in wine.Originality/valueAlthough the literature recognizes the influence of the emotions produced by the product and the environment on wine purchase intent, this is the first study to simultaneously compare the influence of the emotions generated by both the wine on offer (product) and the winery visit (environment) on wine purchase intent in tourists to two different wineries (new vs old wine world).

El potencial del enoturismo o ruta/rutas del vino en La Rioja

El desarrollo del turismo en La Rioja ha tenido como locomotora el mundo del vino. Siendo una de las actividades económicas centrales de la región, así como una seña de identidad, que el enoturismo se convirtiera en un referente turístico de la región era una consecuencia lógica, pero, al igual que el conjunto del sector turístico, su desarrollo no se produjo hasta finales del siglo XX y comienzos del XXI. Desde entonces, el enoturismo ha pasado a ser una potencia en sí mismo en La Rioja, con una infraestructura turística definida y con un apoyo institucional desde todos los ámbitos. De esta forma, se ha puesto en valor un rico y diverso patrimonio material e inmaterial, una cultura, y todos aquellos elementos vinculados a la viticultura. El presente trabajo analiza el potencial de las rutas del vino en La Rioja, partiendo de la existencia de una Ruta del Vino de Rioja Alta.

Behind the wine glass: values that guide consumption in Minas Gerais – Brazil

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to identify and describe the personal values that motivate and guide the cognitive structure of Brazilian wine consumers from the viewpoint of the means-end chain theory.Design/methodology/approachIn this qualitative descriptive study, 40 in-depth laddering interviews were conducted in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, which were transcribed and codified from the attributes, consequences, and values that emerged in the discourse of the wine consumers. The codes were subsequently graded – in accordance with the level of abstraction – and inserted into the LadderUx® software to generate the implication matrix and the hierarchical value map. The interpretation of the cognitive structure of the wine consumers occurred descriptively.FindingsCommon aspects regarding knowledge of the product linked to the ritual of wine consumption were identified among consumers. The psychological factors basically describe the social aspects that are pertinent to the drink’s consumption and to aspects focused on the personal training that leads to consumption satisfaction. Both converge in the search for more knowledge about the world of wine. From this cognitive basis, the existence of the instrumental values of hedonism, benevolence/care, stimulation and achievement could be seen, as well as the terminal values of joy and happiness.Originality/valueThis study presents the cognitive structure of the Brazilian consumers of wine. This result allows some insights in an initial perspective for the development of strategies, based on the factors that motivate the purchase of the drink, thus attracting new consumers to this emerging market.

Liquid indigeneity

ABSTRACTIsrael/Palestine is a site of bitter struggle over definitions of indigeneity and settlerness. In 2008 the first Palestinian “indigenous wine” was released, introducing a discourse of primordial place‐based authenticity into the wine field. Today, winemakers, scientists, autochthonous grapes, and native wines reconfigure the field of gastronationalism. Palestinian and Israeli wine industries can now claim exclusive historical entitlement in a global era in which terroir, that is, the idiosyncratic place, shapes economic and cultural value. Against the dominance of “international varieties,” this indigenous turn in the wine world mobilizes genetics, enology, and ancient texts to rewrite the longue durée of the Israeli/Palestinian landscape. The appropriation of the indigenous grape illustrates the power of science, craft, and taste to reconfigure the human and nonhuman politics of settler colonialism. [settler colonialism, science, gastronationalism, authenticity, wine, terroir, Israel, Palestine]

Perceptual learning in the chemical senses: A review.

People have been writing about perceptual learning and expertise in the chemical senses for more than a century now, with a particular focus on the world of wine. However, the problem with many of the cross-sectional studies of wine expertise that have been published to date is that they simply cannot rule out the possibility that those with superior chemosensory abilities end-up gravitating toward a career in wine. Definitions of expertise also tend to vary widely between studies, making direct comparison of the results obtained rather difficult. By contrast, the longitudinal learning studies that have been published have typically only assessed the effects of relatively small amounts of training. And, taken as a whole, the majority of studies in this area tend to look statistically underpowered nowadays in terms of the sample sizes that have been used. Nevertheless, despite these limitations, the literature converges on the conclusion that chemosensory perceptual learning does occur, though the gains (e.g., in terms of lower detection thresholds) are usually modest at best, and tend to be highly stimulus-specific. By contrast, cognitive/semantic improvements in describing/discriminating wines, and wine-relevant compounds, as well as the acquisition of relevant conceptual knowledge, are much more salient differentiators in the cross-sectional empirical literature. Enhanced attention and olfactory recognition memory abilities have also been reported amongst wine experts. Looking to the future, the hope is that the insights garnered from studies of perceptual learning in the higher spatial senses may help to optimize the training regimes for those wishing to enhance their wine-tasting abilities, and perhaps also aid recovery in those suffering from olfactory loss.

Science & Wine: The Wine of the Future

Worldwide wine production has a great cultural and economic importance. A multidisciplinary approach is necessary to improve wine quality. The First Science & Wine World Congress was planned to be a discussion forum considering the wide wine research spectrum. The idea attracted more than 100 attendees most of which scientists. Wine sector professionals missed the call, which emphasize the necessity of implementing strategies to approach those to the academy. Among the topics discussed, the effects of wine in health was pointed out as a priority. Global forums are a good approach to discuss wine in a holist mode.

The phenomenon of moscatel sparkling wine in Brazil

This article sought bases and contexts of social representation of sparkling wine muscatel in Brazil. It is a base for more complex studies. A phenomenon of increased sparkling wine consumption in Brazil was perceived, mainly from muscatel sparkling wine, which increased by 417% from 2005 to 2017. Sparkling wine is a product that appeared in France and migrated to other countries after colonization. In Brazil, it has been gaining more and more visibility, be it in music, news, supermarkets, and other social contexts. To understand this phenomenon, we sought the media and cultural databases, i.e. music, online newspapers. In Brazilian music, the sparkling wine is represented as a luxury product, which refers to romance, festivities, celebrations, special moments, seduction, special gifts, social differentiation, among others. In others media, it is perceived as a fresh, light drink, with pleasant sweetness and easiness to drink, and also an option for those who want to start venturing into the world of wine. As an exploratory and developing research, it was possible to lay down a foundation for further investigation about the social representation of sparkling wine in Brazil.

Sensory profile and check-all-that-apply (cata) as tools for evaluating and characterizing syrah wines aged with oak chips.

Aging wine in oak barrels provides more complexity to the beverage, but due to the high cost of wood barrels, alternative aging methodologies such as the use of oak chips gain interest of winemakers in the new world of wines, particularly in the tropical regions. This paper reports the sensory profile and consumer perception of Syrah wine produced in the São Francisco Valley, Brazil, with the addition of American and French oak chips at different stages of the fermentation process. Higher intensity of color, coffee, woody, and sweet/caramelized aromas, sweet and woody taste were observed in the age wines as compared to a control wine (no chip addition). An affective sensory test (N = 129) revealed two segments of consumers exhibiting different attitudes to the wines: one group (N = 60) rejected all samples, whereas the other (N = 69) liked them moderately. In short, the findings provide relevant information for stakeholders in the new world of wine where oak barrels impact negatively on the cost of production of wines, as is the case in Brazil.

The shape of the cup influences aroma, taste, and hedonic judgements of specialty coffee

The drinking experience depends on the multisensory integration of attributes of the drink itself as well as the characteristics of the drinking vessel, not to mention the environment in which the drink happens to be tasted. The receptacles from which we drink have been shown to affect the perception of the sensory and hedonic attributes of various different beverages (especially in the world of wine). The present study was designed to investigate whether the shape of the cup would also influence amateur and/or expert consumers’ perception of aroma, taste, and hedonic evaluation of specialty coffee. A large-sample experiment (involving 276 participants) was conducted in a specialty coffee event in Brazil. The participants were divided into three testing groups according to the shape of the cup in which the coffee was served (tulip, open, or split). Tasters evaluated their experience of the aroma, sweetness, acidity, and liking of the coffee. Multivariate analysis of variance was conducted in order to assess the effect of cup shape on sensory and hedonic ratings, and whether expertise modulated these ratings. Both amateurs and experts judged: (1) the aroma to be significantly stronger in the tulip cup, and (2) the sweetness and acidity to be significantly more intense in the split cup. Interestingly, the split cup received the lowest liking scores from the amateurs, but not from the experts. Taken together, these results demonstrate for the first time that the shape of the cup significantly affects the perception of the sensory attributes of specialty coffee, for both amateur and expert consumers. The implications of these results for the design of coffee cups that convey some functional and/or perceptual benefit as well as possible directions for future research are discussed.

What is sustainability in the wine world? A cross-country analysis of wine sustainability frameworks

Sustainability is a paradigm that affects many sectors due to an increasing of stakeholders’ pressure, economic or political reasons. The wine industry is concerned about sustainability in both senses: it confronts threats from sustainability issues, such as climate change, chemical exposure and water and energy availability and its activities have their own impacts. In this sense, understanding sustainability in the wine world requires identifying definitions and principles, but also a review of current practices. This paper sets forth a cross-country analysis about current sustainability assessment frameworks in six countries (South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, US, Chile and France) in order to identify their main aspects, drivers and issues. A cross-analysis discusses the presentation, the scale, the scope, the governance, the deepness, the learning potential and the content, in a cross-disciplinary perspective. The common grounds are summarized in terms of main indicators linked with official guidelines. Most of the frameworks are certifications or labels in voluntary programs, using a qualitative approach to check compliance with guidelines, without proposing the improvement of sustainability performance. They are more focused on operation and on mitigating impact. All frameworks have indicators considering the main environmental issues to the wine industry. The frameworks development should move toward a more effective proposition for improving wine sustainability, in order to answer to the operational challenges with a strategic thinking. The analysis performed can contribute to the development of sustainability programs, improve current methods and encourage the diffusion of sustainability practices to the individuals or in terms of national programs.

GLOBAL STRATEGY OF POSITIONING OF UKRAINE WINE PRODUCTION IN UKRAINE

Ukraine is one of the biggest wine producing countries in Europe. The purpose of this chapter is toshow the dynamics of evolution of world wine making, comparing the categories of Old World wines and NewWorld wines. And, mainly, to determine place of Ukraine in this classification. The understanding of Ukraine’sclassification can help to develop marketing positioning of the country in wine world, to form the unique market advantages and ensure the competitiveness of Ukrainian wines in the European market.

Does the Shape of the Drinking Receptacle Influence Taste/Flavour Perception? A Review

In this review, we summarize the latest evidence demonstrating that the shape and feel of the glassware (and other receptacles) that we drink from can influence our perception of the taste/flavour of the contents. Such results, traditionally obtained in the world of wine, have often been interpreted in terms of changes in physico-chemical properties (resulting from the retention, or release, of specific volatile aromatic molecules), or the differing ways in which the shape of the glassware funnels the flow of the liquid across the tongue. It is, however, not always clear that any such physico-chemical differences do, in fact, lead to perceptible differences. Others, meanwhile, have stressed the importance of cultural factors, and the perceived appropriateness, or congruency, of the receptacle to the drink, based on prior experience. Here, though, we argue that there is also a much more fundamental association at work between shape properties and taste/flavour. In particular, the suggestion is made that the shape properties of the drinking receptacle (e.g., whether it be more rounded or angular)—regardless of whether the receptacle is seen, felt, or both—can prime certain expectations in the mind of the drinker. And, based on the theory of crossmodal correspondence, this priming is thought to accentuate certain aspects of the tasting experience, likely as a result of a taster’s attention being focused on the attributes that have been subtly primed.

Crowdfunding and wine business: Some insights from Fundovino experience

This paper aims to achieve a deeper understanding of the opportunities offered by crowdfunding in the wine sector and offer some guidelines to entrepreneurs for running a successful campaign. For this purpose, a case study research that explores the experience of the first wine-dedicated crowdfunding platform, namely Fundovino, has been conducted. Multiple data sources were used, among which documents and archival data from the Fundovino website, an email interview to its management team and an on line questionnaire sent to a sample of projects’ funders. The results suggest that crowdfunding is ideally suited for the wine sector and that winemakers could exploit both the financial and marketing opportunities offered. According to our survey, the main motivations for funding projects are the willingness to support and interact with small winemakers and the fun of being involved first-hand. So, the creation of other wine-dedicated crowdfunding platforms may help raise awareness about crowdfunding and attract funders interested in projects related to the world of wine. Running a successful crowdfunding campaign requires a significant investment of time and the development of some specific skills by proponents. Indeed, these latter should also be supported by platforms and other actors through the provision of appropriate services.

The Judgment of Princeton

The case descirbes a wine-tasting competition held in Princeton, New Jersey, in 2012. The competition pitted the best wines from New Jersey (NJ) against the best wines from France in blind taste tests. The case stops after the scores of nine judges tasting 20 wines have been recorded. Students are asked to take these 180 scores and determine the best red and best white and to also compare the performance of the 12 NJ wines to the 8 French wines. Excerpt UVA-QA-0813 Rev. Feb. 20, 2014 The JUDGMENT OF PRINCETON In what has been called the most important wine event of the 20th century, wines from California's Napa Valley were evaluated alongside some of France's best in blind taste tests conducted in Paris on May 24, 1976. In what is now known as the Judgment of Paris, a wine from Napa Valley was judged the best (of 10 tasted) in both the red and white competitions. To put it mildly, the result stunned the wine world. For most people at the time, it was simply unthinkable that wines from California could be as good as those from France. For example, upon hearing the results, one of the Paris judges demanded to have her scorecard back for fear that it would become known that she had rated some of the California wines higher than the higher-priced and better-respected French wines. The event was dramatized in the 2008 film Bottle Shock. The sole journalist attending the Paris event was George Taber of Time magazine. Thirty-six years later, Taber, with the help of two wine economists from Princeton University and various New Jersey wine associations, would stage a similar event. But this time, the best French wines would be compared with the best wines from New Jersey. That's right—New Jersey. People have been making wines [in New Jersey] since colonial days, although after American Prohibition most of them were underwhelming sweet ones made with local blueberries and peaches. A small cadre of vintners, though, had been striving in recent years to produce better wines using the world's leading viniferas. . . .

Changes in the international wine market competitiveness

This study offers a contribution to understanding the complexity of the international wine trade analysing the specialisation patterns of 14 among the most important wine world actors in the period 2007&2016, in order to verify if the patterns of comparative advantages for the trade of this countries have experienced significant changes. Using the Lafay index, as a comparative advantage measure, our results reveal deep changes in the global wine market exchange. Our result constitutes a base element for the future development of the competitive scenario and provides some both theoretical and practical implications. In the baseline projection, the maintenance of the competitive position is closely linked to the needs to know the specificities, the differences, the sizes and the economic opportunities for each of the countries target, in order to undertake targeted actions and effective strategies.

Changes in the international wine market competitiveness

This study offers a contribution to understanding the complexity of the international wine trade analysing the specialisation patterns of 14 among the most important wine world actors in the period 2007&2016, in order to verify if the patterns of comparative advantages for the trade of this countries have experienced significant changes. Using the Lafay index, as a comparative advantage measure, our results reveal deep changes in the global wine market exchange. Our result constitutes a base element for the future development of the competitive scenario and provides some both theoretical and practical implications. In the baseline projection, the maintenance of the competitive position is closely linked to the needs to know the specificities, the differences, the sizes and the economic opportunities for each of the countries target, in order to undertake targeted actions and effective strategies.

Study on Brand Building of Grape Industry in Ningxia

Ningxia Helan mountain grape industry to its long industry development history, vast land resources, adequate human capital security, and grape industry gathering area for core platform for the development of the industry and create a world quality grape industry corridor as a starting point, through the industrial agglomeration, integration of resources "as the core strategy, vigorously develop the grape industry and its related culture and tourism economy, experience economy and exhibition economy, integrated industrial development”. By creating a cultural, ecological leading, industry to promote, realize the great leap forward development of the grape industry in Ningxia, to make the grape industry in Ningxia wall, the eastern foot of Helan Mountain built the world famous wine producing areas. In recent years, a rapid increase in Ningxia grape base and the winery has become hot spots in the concern of the international wine world, Ningxia grape existing base of 61 million mu, of which 53 million mu of grape base, grape varieties up to more than 30; winery reached 184 (built in 99); comprehensive annual output value reached 166 million yuan. Initially formed as the core of the town of fort of Yinchuan region, in Gainesville, with the core of Qingtongxia area, to the pond in the circle as the core of Hongsipu region, Yuquanying, Huangyangchuan beach as the core of the Yongning region, to Jinshan is the core of the Helan area at the eastern foot of Helan mountain wine grape industry. The most urgent is the rise of national brands and strenuous, Ningxia region to become areas of China in the true sense of Chateau wine producing areas, standards and international standards, with the idea of the whole industry chain building in the region, shoulder the unshirkable responsibility.

From West to East to West: A case study on Japanese wine manga translated in French

Author of a dozen reputable works on wine, M. Dovaz composed the foreword for the French translation of the Japanese graphic novel, Kami no Shizuku (2005), released in France as Les Gouttes de Dieu (2008). This manga has become a best-seller in its genre in France while the Japanese television adaptation has also reached a French audience through fansubs, allowing a new generation to gain access to that which had hitherto been seen as its own cultural patrimony.
 
 Integral to this wine culture is the ability to “talk about” its central object, in spite of linguistic or geographical separation. The central challenge being to efficiently associate words to a fleeting sensation provoked by visual, olfactory and gustative experience, a specific linguistic knowledge is necessary for those who wish to claim proficiency in wine. The critical narrative arc and didacticism of wine manga rests in the mastery of lexical sophistication as well as cultural knowledge, a posture also shared by most French experts.
 
 The language of wine, the power center of which once resided in France, has been brought into Japan through the act of translation. This very act has allowed for a shift in power—and thus the potential to represent the wine world—from France to Japan. We will show in this paper that there is an interplay occurring between French and Japanese media, producing a cultural space bridged through wine lexicon used in two series of manga recently translated into French (Sommelier in 2004 and Les Gouttes de Dieu in 2008). 
 
 For this purpose, we will proceed to a comparative analysis of the Japanese source text with the French target text, highlighting metaphors used in wine culture. Through the analysis of the texts, we will demonstrate that the Japanese-French translations of these metaphors allow a new way for the French to see their culture through a lense provided by the Japanese sommelier.

The emergence of authentic products: The transformation of wine journalism in Germany, 1947–2008

What turns a bottle of fermented grape juice into a cult wine? Current research in the sociology of culture and food assumes that nowadays the distinctiveness of goods is ascertained not on the basis of traditional food hierarchies (e.g. French food and wine as the global benchmark) but based on criteria of authenticity and exoticism. Since public discourse plays an important role in the consecration of aesthetic goods, we study wine journalism in Germany over time. This enables us to analyse the replacement of traditional criteria and the emergence of new criteria of aesthetic valuation in the wine world. The study is based on a systematic content analysis of the two most important German weeklies from 1947 to 2008. We can show that wine reporting shifts dramatically from an orientation towards French and domestic wines and a rather business-like approach to wine towards a more global orientation and a discourse of authenticity focusing on artisanal production, natural conditions of production and the winemaker as an individual personality/artist.