Using the free comments method for sensory characterisation of Cabernet Franc wines: Comparison with classical profiling in a professional context

• The free comments method is faster than the classical profiling performed on a pre-established list of 21 odour attributes.
• The classical profile and the free description method underlined similar main odour characteristics of the Cabernet Franc wines.
• The free description method was advantageous for introducing new information and specific characteristics of a number of products.
• A Chi-square per cell analysis was performed on free description data to explore the differences between the products in detail.

In this study, we adapt the free comments method to a professional wine panel and compare it with the classical profiling method. Indeed, the methods classically used for sensory analysis appear to be poorly suited to a professional wine panel, which is less time available than other panel types.The odour properties of thirty-one Cabernet Franc wines from the Loire Valley region were described by two distinct panels performing, respectively, a classical profiling and a free comments method. Both methods were performed by wine professionals without prior common training. The classical profiling data were analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), the Student Newman-Keuls (SNK) test and principal component analysis (PCA). The free comments data were analysed with a global Chi-square, a Chi-square per cell test and a correspondence analysis (CA). The data analysis was followed by a multiple factor analysis (MFA) allowing assessment of the correspondence between the sensory maps obtained using the two methods. As expected, a large number of descriptors were generated via the free comments method, providing rich information on the set of products. In general, the two methods underlined similar main odour characteristics of the Cabernet Franc wines. The free comments method was advantageous for highlighting the specific characteristics of a number of products. This method is less time consuming and allows easy characterisation of wines. In conclusion, the free comments method may represent a convenient alternative to conventional descriptive analysis in a wine professional context or a convenient sensory mapping tool for conducting the preliminary phases of sensory studies, such as the generation of attributes.