| Nineteen commercial Chardonnay wines were analyzed by Gas chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). Previously, intensities of 8 aroma attributes were rated by descriptive analysis (DA). Freon extracts were developed into three fractions using silicagel column chromatography. The four wines, which had the largest differences in aroma profiles, were evaluated most extensively by GC Olfactometry (GC/O). Four judges evaluated each fraction of these wines by GC/O, while other 8 wines were evaluated by 2 judges. Compounds shown to be odor-active (OA) by GC/O were identified by GC/MS and Kovats retention indices. 81 OA peaks were detected in the 12 wines evaluated by GC/O. Seven OA compounds were only found in a few wines and excluded from analysis.; Relationships between sensory ratings and 74 OA compounds of the 19 wines were modeled by Partial least square (PLS) regression analysis. PLS of a sub-set of 16 OA peaks explained 64% and 47% of variance in the sensory and GC data. Fruity wines high in peach, citrus and floral terms were separated from those high in oak related sensory attributes (oak, vanilla, caramel, spice and butter). The fruity and floral terms were associated with isoamyl acetate, 2-phenyethyl acetate, linalool and 2 unknowns exhibiting minty and bandaid-caramel odors; the oaky attributes were associated with vanillin, oak-lactones, 4-ethyl guaiacol, y-nonalactone, 2-acetyl furan, eugenol, guaiacol and two unknowns with plastic and smoky odors.; To test the ability of the OA compounds to reproduce the aromas of four “most different” wines, combinations of OA compounds were added to a neutral base wine at the concentrations found in the original wine. The aromas of each original wine, the unspiked neutral base wine and 2 spiked wines were compared pair-wise by similarity rating. Although the spiked wines differed from the neutral base wines, none were more similar to the original wine than to the base wine, suggesting the importance of trace volatiles which had not been identified in this study. |
