Relationship between nonvolatile composition and sensory properties of premium Spanish red wines and their correlation to quality perception.

The correlation of nonvolatile composition in wines with quality perception is a critical subject in current enological research, and it is far from being clear. Thus, the present work aims at (1) defining the chemical composition and in-mouth sensory properties of a set of wooded premium Spanish red wines and (2) assessing the implication of their chemical composition in the sensory perception of quality. Therefore, 24 wines were analyzed by sensory descriptive analysis and chemical analysis for nonvolatile composition, and their correlations have been discussed. In parallel, a panel of wine experts performed a quality evaluation based on overall perception. Multivariate statistical analysis has revealed that quality was primarily related to wines without defective aroma and secondarily to the presence of nonvolatile components such as reducing sugars and alcohol content as well as some phenolic compounds: proanthocyanidins linked to polysaccharide, trans-caffeic, trans-coutaric, and trans-caftaric acids, quercetin-3-O-glucuronide, and malvidin-catechin dimer. The results show that wines evaluated as high-quality wines by experts present higher concentrations of these compounds except for trans-caffeic acid, which accumulates higher concentration levels in low-quality wines.