How do Syrah winemakers from two different French regions conceptualise peppery wines?

Abstract

This work investigated Syrah producers' conceptualisation of peppery wines from two different wine regions. For the study, a long-term memory approach was used; in addition, the effects of the region of origin, as well as the sensitivity of the participants to detect rotundone, were evaluated. A total of 101 winemakers from the Northern Rhone Valley (NRV) and Languedoc-Roussillon (LR) were interviewed face-to-face after they had participated in two 3-alternative forced tests to assess their ability to detect rotundone. As part of the interview, participants were asked to remember the last peppery red wine they had tasted, to provide technical information about that wine and, more generally, about practices enhancing this character in wine, and to give their overall appreciation of such peppery notes. Only minor differences were observed between participants with either low or high sensitivity to rotundone; in contrast, an important regional effect on the conceptualisation of peppery notes was observed. Experts from the NRV recognised this character as a marker of wines made from under-ripe grapes. Overall, they perceived this flavour as a positive attribute, notably at a moderate level, but some experts also perceived it negatively. For LR participants, peppery notes were associated with powerful, full-bodied wines from very ripe grapes produced in the South of France and were notably perceived as a positive character. Our results are particularly relevant for the wine community as they show that the conceptualisation of a given wine aroma characteristic by winemakers can strongly differ according to their region of origin.