Sensory dimensions derived from competitive and creative perceptual interactions between fruity ethyl esters and woody odorants in wine-like models

The present study analyses the sensory effects associated with the interactions between different woody aroma compositions and a simple fruity ester vector in red wines. The semi-synthetic wine models contained a fixed aroma composition, the dearomatised non-volatile fraction of red wine and 21 different combinations of ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity vector) plus 1 out of 3 woody aroma compositions (woody vectors) at 3 possible levels of concentration each. Woody vectors imitated a highly toasted American oak (HAO—elevated levels of whiskylactones and furaneol), a highly toasted French oak (HFO—low levels of whiskylactone and vanillin levels, high levels of eugenol and guaiacol) and a medium toasted French oak (MFO—low levels of whiskylactones, eugenol, guaiacol and furaneol and high levels of vanilla). Models were sensorily assessed by a sorting task and by descriptive analysis. The increase in woody notes causes a concomitant decrease in fruity notes by a competitive perceptual interaction. HAO models are richest in coconut and woody notes and poorest in fruity notes, while HFO models keep strawberry and apple notes. At certain specific fruity-woody vector ratios, particularly in the MFO model, blackcurrant notes emerge, which can be considered a creative perceptual interaction.