Exploring the influence of terroir on douro white and red wines characteristics: a study of human perception and electronic analysis

Abstract

The main objective of the present study was to evaluate terroir's role in white and red wine characteristics through human perceptions and electronic assessment. Douro wines, originating from the Douro Demarcated Region (DDR) in the North of Portugal, are renowned for their distinct terroir and historical significance. This study investigates twenty-one Douro wine samples (ten white, eleven red) from Baixo Corgo and Douro Superior through Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Electronic Nose (E-nose) analysis, and Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA). The research has uncovered unique profiles for each sub-region, influenced by factors such as pH, alcohol content, and acidity. Through principal component analysis, the electronic nose analysis identifies separate clusters in red wines and highlights notable aromatic differences in white wines. The sensory analysis via quantitative descriptive analysis provides detailed wine profiles, emphasizing attributes such as persistence, sweetness, and acidity. Furthermore, emotional responses during wine tasting were assessed using FaceReader analysis, which revealed a range of emotions like happiness, sadness, surprise, fear, and disgust, with different intensities over time. These findings provide valuable insights for consumers, producers, and the enogastronomic industry. Graphical abstract