Tag Archives: consumer preferences

Wine Literature Review Lightning Round: 5th Edition

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Becca| Leave a comment

 

—————————————————————————————————-

Welcome to The Academic Wino! If you are new here, please read the “About Me” page to find out more about myself and the blog. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and or Pinterest. Thanks for visiting!

—————————————————————————————————-

There’s no way one single person can possibly review every single piece of peer reviewed literature related to wine that is published every day. This series presents multiple new papers (within the past year or two) in one post by briefly summarizing the research and linking to the source in order for you to pursue further if you’re interested. If there is enough reader interest, I can review any of the papers introduced to you in this post in a more critical assessment.

VITICULTURE/ENOLOGY

“Changes in sour rotten grape berry microbiota during ripening and wine fermentation”. This article, published in 2012, aimed to determine the community structures of yeasts, lactic acid bacteria, and acetic acid bacteria in healthy grapes and grapes afflicted with sour rot, and how the winemaking process does or does not change these populations. Using healthy and sour

NOBEL ROT (Not sour rot): Photo by davitydave (Flickr: IMG_0556.JPG) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

NOBEL ROT (Not sour rot): Photo by davitydave (Flickr: IMG_0556.JPG) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

rotten Trincadeira grapes from an experimental vineyard in Portugal, the researchers determined the microbiological composition of the grapes as well as the wines created from these grapes. Wines were made with either 100% healthy grapes, or with 70% healthy grapes plus 30% sour rotten grapes.

Results showed that sour rotten grapes showed significant increases in their populations and species diversity of yeasts and acetic acid bacteria counts, while lactic acid bacteria populations were low for both sour rotten grapes and healthy grapes. The bacterial species Acetobacter orleaniensis and Acetobacter syzygii were present only in sour rotten grapes. The yeast species Dekkera bruxellensis and Oenococcus oeni were found only after primary fermentation in all wines, and after malolactic fermentation, racking, and SO2 addition, the only yeast species found were Trigonopsis cantarellii and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (in all wines). The concluding results were that there are significant microbiotic changes in grapes that are afflicted with sour rot, with potential implications for early detection in the field for treatment or sorting purposes prior to winemaking.

Source: Barata, A., Malfeito-Ferreira, M., and Loureiro, V. 2012. Changes in sour rotten grape berry microbiota during ripening and wine fermentation. International Journal of Food Microbiology 154: 152-161.

CONSUMER PREFERENCES

“What matters to consumers of organic wine?”. This article, published in 2012, aimed to determine how important the distinction of “organic” of a wine is to consumers, and what other attributes of the wine are important to those that consume organic wine. To examine this issue, surveys were sent out to around 400 Swiss wine drinkers, which asked questions related to the judgment of different wine labels, how the image and make-up of an organic wine label influences their purchase behavior, and questions related to demographics of each survey participant.

The results showed that the most important attribute for these Swiss wine drinkers was price and country of origin (they preferred French over Swiss wine). The “organic” attribute was less important than price and country of origin; however, it was more important than the color of the wine. Those participants that considered themselves healthy, as well as urban residents and female consumers were more likely to consume organic wine than their other fellow participants. From these results, the authors suggest the Swiss wine market should focus their advertising on the healthy image of wine, as well as direct the marketing toward urban women in order to maximize likelihood of purchase for organic (and other) wines.

Source: Mann, S., Ferjani, A., and Reissig, L. 2012. What matters to consumers of organic wine? British Food Journal 114(2): 272-284.

HEALTH

“The antimicrobial effect of wine on Bacillus cereus in simulated gastro-intestinal conditions”. This article, published in 2012, aimed to determine if wine could protect against Bacillus cereus infection (i.e. results in food poisoning) in the human digestive system, using a simulated experimental design. Survival of Bacillus cereus when exposed to wine was first testing in inoculated TSB media (i.e. not simulated human conditions). Next, survival of B. cereus when exposed to wine was tested in simulated human digestive system conditions, by creating an environment very similar in chemistry to the inside of the human digestive system.

Results from the first test showed that B. cereus spores were resistant to wine exposure, however, B. cereus cells in the vegetative state were highly sensitive to wine and were significantly reduced when exposed to wine. The authors broke down the components of the wine to determine which components were responsible for this decrease in vegetative B. cereus cells, and found that wine

Photo by Flickr user Evil Erin

Photo by Flickr user Evil Erin

organic acids reduced B. cereus vegetative cells, which wine phenolic compounds had no effect on B. cereus vegetative cells. Similar results were found in the human digestive system simulation experiment, with wine (total wine, not just wine parts) significantly reducing B. cereus vegetative cells and somewhat reducing B. cereus spores. The authors concluded that wine therefore may have a protective/antimicrobial effect against the food poisoning causing B. cereus, and that it is the organic acids in the wine (and not the polyphenols) that seem to be providing that protection.

Source: Vaz, M., Hogg, T., and Couto, J. 2012. The antimicrobial effect of wine on Bacillus cereus in simulated gastro-intestinal conditions. Food Control 28: 230-236.

Posted in Literature Review Lightning Round

Tagged , , , , ,

Book Review: Why You Like The Wines You Like; by Tim Hanni, MW

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Becca| 7 Comments

 

—————————————————————————————————-

Welcome to The Academic Wino!  If you are new here, please read the “About Me” page to find out more about myself and the blog. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and or Pinterest. Thanks for visiting!

—————————————————————————————————-

I have to say, I was incredibly excited when Tim Hanni announced he was releasing a book on his work related to wine preferences and out-dated “trends” in the wine industry. Ever since I met Tim over a year ago at a seminar held in the Monticello AVA region of Virginia, I was convinced that the traditional wine and food pairing “rules” were not, in reality, appropriate for who we actually taste and how each individual perceives and enjoys particular flavors and characteristics of wines. In fact, I’ve been preaching this message quite frequently in the tasting room when I’m pouring, and I have to say people are very receptive and thrilled with the new ideas.

Image source: http://tastingwithtom.com/files/Why-You-Like-the-Wines-You-.jpg

Image source: http://tastingwithtom.com/files/Why-You-Like-the-Wines-You-.jpg

To purchase the book, you may find it on Amazon by clicking here.

Why You Like The Wines You Like: Changing the way the world thinks about wines; by Tim Hanni, MW, is a highly educational and eye-opening book that allows to enjoy the wines you like without feeling “embarrassed” and that stresses the importance of matching wine “to the diner, not the dinner”. Hanni uses scientific evidence to support his views, and provides many “try at home” exercises to further help you in understanding why you like the wines you like, and why any wine can go with any dish (nearly).

The first part of the book focuses on determining what are you favorite types of wine. Using what Tim has cleverly named “My Vinotype” (based on the biological term “phenotype”), Tim has used decades of scientific research to identify several different Vinotypes which are definite as the “sum of the physiological and psychological factors that determine your unique wine preferences and values”. Are you a tolerant taster? Or perhaps a hypersensitive? Maybe you are a lover of sweet wines? This book gives you “permission” to embrace your Vinotype which could help guide you in your wine purchases at home or out at a wine bar or restaurant.

Want to know which Vinotype you are? Go to www.myvinotype.com to find out! **Please note**:  this program is still being tweaked and added to in order to get a more accurate representation of your wine preferences.  The results may be oversimplified right now (and thus may not completely reflect your exact preferences), but they are adding new questions and complexity over time.

The rest of the book focuses on dismantling the current view of tradition wine pairing (i.e. red wine with steak; white wine with fish; etc) and to focus on the

By Jules Morgan from Montreal, Canada (The wine flight Uploaded by Fæ) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Jules Morgan from Montreal, Canada (The wine flight Uploaded by Fæ) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

“diner” and not the “dinner”. The basic idea is one shouldn’t be asking someone what they plan on eating in order to choose the appropriate wine, but instead one should be asking “what types of wine do you like?” or “what’s your Vinotype”?

What if someone simply can’t stand the taste of red wine, since it’s too bitter for their palate (which, by the way, someone who loves sweet wines and can’t tolerate big red wines has significantly more taste buds than their red wine drinking counterparts)? Are you going to force them to drink a big and bold red wine anyway because they ordered steak? As Tim points out in the book, the consumer will only become frustrated and give up on wine altogether, instead going to a mixed drink or perhaps beer as an alternative.

What if, instead, there wasn’t this stigma against people who don’t like big red wines and who enjoy sweeter or slightly sweet wines? These sweet wine drinkers, who make up a huge proportion of the total wine drinkers out there, would not feel embarrassed or otherwise looked down upon, and would order the wines that they love with confidence. By intimidating or embarrassing these sweet wine drinkers, we are only driving them further away from wine, and thus alienating a huge portion of potential consumers (who will now be spending their hard earned money on liquor or beer instead of wine).

The point Hanni drives across in this book is that wine preference is not an intellectual characteristic, nor is it necessarily something that changes with more wine education. In fact, there are many wine professionals who know a lot more about wine that the Average Joe who are Sweet Vinotypes and who love a good Riesling with their big, fat, juicy T-bone steak. Are these people less “advanced” in the ways of wine? Of course not! They simply have a particular physiology and biological make-up which results in them loving sweeter wines and preferring to steer clear of red wines.

I could go on and on about the different points and topics in Why You Like The Wines You Like by Tim Hanni, but then I’d pretty much be re-writing the book and that’d be silly (and well, kind of illegal). Instead, you should read the book for yourself! Why You Like The Wines You Like should be REQUIRED reading for everyone who loves wine, or who thinks they might love wine if only they didn’t feel pressured or embarrassed to steer clear of their favorites. This book has several fun do-it-yourself exercises that will help further convince you that wine and food pairing shouldn’t be about certain rules per se, but should be all about the individual consumer and what types of wines they actually like and would prefer to drink.

If you are a critic of this school of thought, you definitely need to buy the book.

By Simon Law (originally posted to Flickr as Sparkling wine) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Simon Law (originally posted to Flickr as Sparkling wine) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

You really should listen to the science behind Tim’s findings, and certainly perform that do-it-yourself exercises. If you’re still not convinced, that’s totally fine, too. Tim just wants to have the opportunity to share this new ideology with us all, in hopes that we can create a new way of thinking in the wine world (and thus increase the number of people actually drinking and buying wine instead of making them feel alienated and driving them to a different drink).

Long story short: I HIGHLY recommend Why You Like The Wines You Like by Tim Hanni. The book is chock full of great science, great information, many laughable moments, and fun exercises for you to do at home in order to further understand these principles.

Drink the wines you like, don’t be embarrassed, and enjoy that white wine with steak or that red wine with fish! Salud!

To purchase the book, you may find it on Amazon by clicking here.

Posted in Literature

Tagged , , , , , ,

Wine Literature Review Lightning Round: 2nd Edition

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Becca| Leave a comment

 

—————————————————————————————————-

Welcome to The Academic Wino!  If you are new here, please read the “About Me” page to find out more about myself and the blog. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and or Pinterest. Thanks for visiting!

—————————————————————————————————-

There’s no way one single person (even if that person is The Academic Wino!) can possibly review every single piece of peer reviewed literature related to wine that is published every day. This series presents multiple new papers (within the past year or so) in one post by briefly summarizing the research and linking to the source in order for you to pursue further if you’re interested. If there is enough interest, be it through comments or emails, I can review any of the papers introduced to you in this post in a more critical assessment.

VITICULTURE & ENOLOGY:

“Prediction of red wine colour and phenolic parameters from the analysis of its grape extract”. This article, published in 2011, sought to determine whether or not one could predict color and phenolic characteristics of a finished wine from the grapes before they are even processed. The researchers harvested 5 different varieties of red grapes at different stages during the growing season and measured their phenolic composition, tannin levels, and anthocyanin levels (i.e. color). Wines were subsequently made from these grapes at these same stages and again, phenolics, tannin, and anthocyanins were measured.

Using correlation and regression analysis, the results showed that the phenolics, tannins, and anthocyanins from the grape extracts were all highly correlated with the same compounds in the resulting wines. This knowledge could be a

Photo by quinn.anya: http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1201/1486163719_2113050d91.jpg

Photo by quinn.anya: http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1201/1486163719_2113050d91.jpg

significant benefit to vineyard managers and winemakers in order to better determine with greater accuracy when grapes should be harvested to create a particular style of wine.

Source: Fragoso, S., Guasch, J., Aceña, L., Mestres, M., and Busto, O. 2011. Prediction of red wine colour and phenolic parameters from the analysis of its grape extract. International Journal of Food Science and Technology 46: 2569-2575.

CONSUMER PREFERENCES:

“Consumer liking of white wines: segmentation using self-reported wine liking and wine knowledge”. This article, published in 2012, sought to determine how South Australians prefer their white wines and how this correlates to consumer wine knowledge and demographics. The sample size was relatively small (n=150), with wine habits reported via questionnaires. The results found were that younger females with less wine knowledge and who do not drink Chardonnay enjoy Sauvignon Blanc wines. Also, older respondents with greater wine knowledge and more interested in things such as region and vintage reported enjoying Riesling wines. Finally, those liking all white wines other than Riesling (which was the largest group) tended to have less wine knowledge and were more reliant on expert opinions than the rest of the group.

Photo by StateofIsrael: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8465/8140902367_a8b170c2aa.jpg

Photo by StateofIsrael: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8465/8140902367_a8b170c2aa.jpg

The authors stated that these results could shed some light on the behavior of Australian white wine consumers and how having wine knowledge may have a significant influence on what type of white wine the consumer purchases. I’m not completely sold this study means anything other than what 150 South Australians like to drink, but alas, I could be convinced with further research.

Source: King, E.S., Johnson, T.E., Bastian, S.E.P., Osidacz, P., and Francis, I.L. 2012. Consumer liking of white wines: segmentation using self-reported wine liking and wine knowledge. International Journal of Wine Business Research 24(1): 33-46.

CONSTRUCTION (What? Construction?):

“Controlling asphalt aging by inclusion of byproducts from red wine industry”. OK, this may take the prize for being the most random application of wine industry wastes that I have come across so far (and that’s saying a lot, since I’ve already presented research on using wine industry waste in leather production). According to this paper, nearly all (okay, 95%) of the world’s pavement is made with Asphalt Binder. Apparently, as the pavement sits there over time, the Asphalt Binder oxidizes, causing a hardening of the pavement and eventual increase in cracking.

Some wine lover in the construction business must have had his/her thinking cap on, as they thought to themselves, “Hey wait a minute! That wine industry waste stuff is loaded with antioxidants! How about we just shove a bunch of that stuff into the pavement mix to protect the Asphalt Binder from oxidizing and cracking so fast?”. So, some scientists took some pomace from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were added to the Asphalt Binder and subjected it to the

By Frank Kovalchek from Anchorage, Alaska, USA (I love these curvy roads Uploaded by russavia) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Frank Kovalchek from Anchorage, Alaska, USA (I love these curvy roads Uploaded by russavia) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

pavement aging process. With 10% grape pomace added to the pavement mixture, the fatigue factor (i.e. how easy it is to oxidize and crack) decreased by between 14% and 19%. Also, the amount of time it took to dry out and stiffen was lengthened by 23% when the pavement was treated with grape pomace. According to these results, the engineers had it right! Grape pomace, when added to pavement, appears to reduce the rate of oxidation and stiffness such that drying and cracking does not occur as quickly as it would without this treatment. Such a fascinating application of wine industry waste recycling right there!

Source: Calabi-Floody, A., and Thenoux, G. 2012. Controlling asphalt aging by inclusion of byproducts from red wine industry. Construction and Building Materials 28: 616-623.

Posted in Literature Review Lightning Round

Tagged , , , , , , ,

The Effect of Micro-Oxygenation on Wine Quality and Consumer Preferences

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Becca| 3 Comments

 

Modern winemaking has discovered many different techniques and technologies to improve upon the quality of wine.  One example is the use of micro-oxygenation during the red winemaking process.  Simply put, micro-oxygenation of red wine allows a wine to be released to consumers at a young age while possessing characteristics of a wine that has been oak aged for many months.

Micro-oxygenation works by the addition of oxygen into red wine at a controlled rate and flow to stabilize color and improve astringency and aromatic components of the final wine.  One difficulty with this technique is that each grape variety behaves differently when exposed to micro-oxygenation, thereby making it much more difficult to know exactly how much oxygen and how quickly the oxygen should be injected into the wine.

By Quinn Dombrowski (originally posted to Flickr as Wine) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Quinn Dombrowski (originally posted to Flickr as Wine) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

It is common knowledge among winemakers and other in the wine industry that adding oxygen affects those chemical and sensory components of a wine.  General changes include changes to phenolics, sulfur compounds, and oxygen consumption.  If the wine is exposed to too much oxygen, several problems can occur, including the oxygenation of phenolic compounds, increases in astringency, color, mouthfeel, and bacteria populations.

Finding the right amount of oxygen to add to red wine could have important quality and economic benefits for a winery, in that if the “right” amount of oxygen is added, wine quality would improve which would theoretically increase the consumer “liking” of the wine and ultimately increase consumer purchasing of said wine.

The goal of the study presented today was to determine how micro-oxygenation of red wine at different rates affects the sensory characteristics of the wine (specifically, Cabernet Sauvignon) and also how micro-oxygenation of Cabernet Sauvignon affects consumer preference.

Methods

Cabernet Sauvignon wine was made using grapes picked in 2007 from a vineyard in Mornington Peninsula in Australia.  Micro-oxygenation was applied after alcoholic fermentation was complete but prior to starting malolactic fermentation.

Two 5000L stainless steel tanks were filled with wine, with one tank receiving a micro-oxygenation treatment of 25mL oxygen per liter per month and the other tank receiving a micro-oxygenation treatment of 50mL oxygen per liter per

Photo credit: I, Tomas er [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or FAL], via Wikimedia Commons

Photo credit: I, Tomas er [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or FAL], via Wikimedia Commons

month.  One 500L stainless steel tank was filled with wine and used as the control (no micro-oxygenation treatment).  After micro-oxygenation treatment, malolactic fermentation was allowed to commence in all wines.

Micro-oxygenation was completed using a “Microdue” device.  In lieu of space, I will refrain from going into the details of how this device works, but if you’d like to know, just ask in the comments and I’d be happy to describe it there!

Wines were tested before and after micro-oxygenation treatment for standard enological parameters including: alcohol content, turbidity, pH, total acidity, volatile acidity, sulfur dioxide, color intensity, hue, degrees of red pigments, SO2-resistant pigments, total red pigments, and total polyphenols.  All analyses were done in triplicate.

During the winemaking process, sensory analysis was performed by three winemakers.

After the winemaking process, wines were evaluated by 35 panelists: 30 of them (16 men and 14 women) were students studying winemaking and sensory evaluation at Charles Stuart University in New South Wales, Australia; 4 of them were winemakers; and 1 of them was a wine critic expert.

Each panelist received four wines: a control, two of the 25mL micro-oxygenation treatment, and one of the 50mL micro-oxygenation treatments.  Panelists evaluated the wine for color, olfactory attributes, and mouth feel characteristics.

Wine was presented to the panelists in transparent glasses randomly and blindly.

Consumer preference tests were performed in the winery.  Customers, visitors, and winery staff were recruited to participate in the consumer preference tests, for a total of 51 participants (21 men and 30 women between the ages of 21 and 60 years).  According to the authors, none of the participants were “qualified wine tasters”.  Wines were presented to the participants in the same manner as were presented to the panelists during the sensory analysis.

Results

Before Malolactic Fermentation:

  • At the beginning of the micro-oxygenation treatment, there were no chemical differences between the control wine and the treatment wines.
  • Throughout the micro-oxygenation process, color intensity significantly increased in both treatments compared with the untreated control.
  • Olfactory intensity and mouth feel complexity increased in micro-oxygenated wines compared with the control, and peaked after 3 days of treatment.
  • After 6 days of treatment, “reductiveness” and astringency decreased in micro-oxygenated wines compared with the control.
  • The 50mL treatment showed increased vegetal and bitterness character and decreased “reductiveness” and fruit freshness compared to the 25mL treatment.

After Malolactic Fermentation:

  • After micro-oxygenation treatments, pH, volatile acidity, and titratable acidity were similar between the treatment and the control wines.
  • Differences occurred in regards to color intensity, total red pigments, and total phenolics, which were all higher in control wines.
  • Wine hue was increased in micro-oxygenated wines.
    • This suggests greater oxygen exposure on wine can have a browning effect on the red pigments (degree of red pigments was similar in all wines).
  • SO2-resistant pigments (those that improve color stability) increased in micro-oxygenated wines, and showed highest levels in the 50mL treatment.
    • This confirms the idea that micro-oxygenation helps to stabilize wines.

Sensory Analysis:

  • There was a significant judge effect (i.e. certain judges scored markedly different than other judges), so calculations were performed to standardize the results.
  • There were significant differences in regards to sensory characteristics of all wines.
  • Fruit character was negatively correlated with higher scores, and was most prominently noted in the control wines.
  • The 50mL treatment was most noted for complexity and roundness on the palate.
  • The 25mL treatment was most noted for volume and fruit freshness.

Consumer Preference Analysis:

  • 40% of participants preferred the 25mL micro-oxygenated wine treatment.
  • 31% of participants preferred the 50mL micro-oxygenated wine treatment.
  • 29% of participants preferred the control wine.
  • Participants most preferred those wines with high levels of complexity and roundness.
  • Participants least preferred those wines with high levels of flavor intensity, fruitiness, and fruit freshness.
  • Those characteristics that were seen positively to participants were most associated with micro-oxygenated wines, whereas those characteristics that were seen negatively to participants were most associated with control wines.
  • Overall consumer preference was ranked as: 1) 25mL micro-oxygenation treatment; 2) 50mL micro-oxygenation treatment; and 3) control wine.
  • The relationship between chemical parameters and consumer preference was statistically significant.
    • This suggests consumer preference could be predicted based upon the chemical composition of any given wine (though take with a grain of salt, since only Australian Cabernet Sauvignon was tested).

Conclusions

According to the results of this study, the Cabernet Sauvignon wine treated with micro-oxygenation at a moderate level of 25mL per liter per month for 6 days was the most preferred wine for consumers at an Australian winery.  Now, before every winemaker goes out and treats their red wine with 25mL per liter per month of oxygen for 6 days, one must understand that this micro-oxygenation treatment worked for the Australian Cabernet Sauvignon in this study, but may not work for any particular red wine.  It is important to note that the chemistry is different for every red wine; thereby every red wine may be affected differently to the same micro-oxygenation treatment.

According to the authors, it is important that during the micro-oxygenation process, acetaldehyde, SO2, volatile acidity, temperature, and taste be monitored in order to determine how micro-oxygenation will be most effective for any one particular wine.  It would be interesting and beneficial to see this study repeated using multiple types of red wines, however, it is still important to monitor the progress in any micro-oxygenation process, due to the many variations from batch to batch that may not have been controlled for in this or any similar experiment.

What is clear from this study is that short-term micro-oxygenation does improve the sensory characteristics of a wine, and also improve consumer preference of a red wine.  The authors suggest that micro-oxygenation could be

Photo by StateofIsrael: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8465/8140902367_a8b170c2aa.jpg

Photo by StateofIsrael: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8465/8140902367_a8b170c2aa.jpg

a good alternative to oak aging if the winery wishes to release the wine to the public sooner than later.  Note: I believe what they mean here in regards to oak aging is in relation to the TIME and not the actual complexity imparted by the oak into the wine.  Ideally, they should have included an oak aging control to make this statement.

I would be interested in seeing this study repeated with more types of red wine, as well as a study examining more micro-oxygenation treatments.  How much is too much?  How little is not enough?  It would be interesting to get an idea of a possible range to the benefit of micro-oxygenation, in order for winemakers to have a “zone” to hone in on during their own winemaking practices.

I’d love to hear what you all think! Please feel free to leave comments or questions!

Source: Parpinello, G.P., Plumejeau, F., Maury, C., and Versari, A. 2012. Effect of micro-oxygenation on sensory characteristics and consumer preference of Cabernet Sauvignon wine. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 92: 1238-1244.

Posted in Chemistry

Tagged , , , , ,