Correlation between volatile composition and sensory properties in Spanish Albariño wines

To characterize the flavour of Albariño wines, a total of 35 samples representing five geographic areas from Denomination of Origin Rías Baixas were analyzed by sensory descriptive analysis and instrumental analysis (GC-FID). The objective of this work was to study the correlation between instrumental analysis and sensory perception of wine constituents. The results of the investigation were presented by means of multivariate modelling methods such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and partial least squares regression (PLSR). Principal Component Analysis showed the distribution of the wines based on chemical and sensory characteristics. The relationships between sensory descriptors and volatile compounds of Albariño wines were studied by Pearson correlation and partial least squares regression (PLSR). The compounds that mostly contributed to the flavour of Albariño wines in instrumental analysis were those related to fruity (ethyl esters and acetates) and floral aromas (monoterpenes). Similar results were found in sensory analysis where the descriptors with the highest Geometric Mean were fruity and floral aromas too (citric, flowers, fruit, ripe fruit, apple and tropical). Therefore, this work demonstrates that some relationships between sensory data and volatile compounds exist to asses sensory properties in Albariño wines.