On the aroma of Souvignier gris: long term memory of expert tasters on the definition of wine aroma features

There is increasing attention in the vine and wine industry around mold-resistant varieties as a sustainable alternative to reduce pesticides and to face the new challenges posed by climate change. Among the PIWI varieties, Souvignier gris -a hybrid grape with Seyval and Zähringer parentage- is remarkable increasing the vine planted surface area and wine production in numerous countries such as Germany, France, and Italy. This work aimed to elaborate a list of descriptors of Souvignier gris wines and its application in the evaluation of wines treated with β-glucosidases. A free-word survey, based on the longterm memory of expert tasters, was conducted to identify the main aroma descriptors of Souvignier gris wines, as proposed by Jose Coutinho et al. (2015). Twenty-five Souvignier gris producers/experts from five different Italian wine regions were asked the following question: “How would you describe the aroma of Souvignier gris?”. No information or prerequisite for wine style, production protocol or harvest were considered. The classified list of descriptors was further used to evaluate the effect of a 30-daylong β-glucosidase treatment (1 g/hL, Revelation Aroma Rapidase®, Oenobrands, France) on a Souvignier Gris wine with a duo-trio test performed by forty-one winemakers.