Chemosensory characterization of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir base wines of Champagne. Two very different varieties for a common product.

Five different methodologies were applied for the quantitative analysis of 86 volatile molecules in 32 Chardonnay and 30 Pinot Noir Champagne white base wines. Sensory characterization was carried out by descriptive analysis. Pinot Noir wines had more constitutive compounds while Chardonnay wines had more discriminant compounds. Only four compounds predominated in Chardonnay wines: 4-vinylphenol, guaiacol, sotolon and 4-methyl-4-mercapto-2-pentanone. Correlation studies and PLSR models were calculated with sensory and chemical variables. For Pinot Noir wines, they were not as revealing as for Chardonnay base wines. Sulfur-related compounds were suggested to be involved in tropical fruit, dried fruit and citric sensory notes. This family of compounds seemed to be responsible for discriminant sensory terms in Champagne base wines. Fermentative compounds (aromatic buffer) were found at significantly higher levels in Pinot Noir wines, which would explain the fact that these wines were more difficult to describe in comparison with Chardonnay base wines.