Natural Flavor Additives Influence the Sensory Perception and Consumer Liking of Australian Chardonnay and Shiraz Wines

The use of winemaking additives is governed by strict regulations, and currently, flavor additives are not legally permitted in commercial wine production: their addition to a wine renders it a “wine product.” However, Australian wine consumers have previously indicated their acceptance of the use of flavorings in wine. Consumers were found to be significantly more accepting of natural flavorings than of many additives currently used in winemaking (e.g., acid, tannins, oak chips). In this study, we investigated the potential for flavorings to enhance wine aroma and flavor and explored consumer liking of flavored wines. Four inexpensive commercial wines (two Chardonnay and two Shiraz) were flavored with natural additives to enhance aroma and flavor. Descriptive analysis (DA) was performed to determine the sensory profiles of control and flavored wines. Overall, the addition of flavor additives significantly increased the intensity of key attributes (e.g., citrus aroma and honey flavor) and decreased undesirable attributes (e.g., green, earthy notes) in wines. Following DA, consumer tastings (n = 218) were conducted to assess liking of control versus flavored wines. Based on individual liking scores, three hedonic clusters were identified. For Chardonnay, Cluster 1 (C1) liking was driven by passion fruit aroma, C2 by oak flavor and stone fruit and honey aromas, and C3 by butter aroma, honey flavor, and fruit and phenolic length. Drivers for Shiraz included chocolate flavor and red fruit and confectionary aromas for C1, oak flavor and red berry and green aromas for C2, and oak aroma and flavor and red fruit and confectionary aromas for C3. Findings suggest flavorings can enhance wine sensory properties, and for some consumer segments, wine acceptability (or liking).