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There is an important movement in the wine industry towards the production of alternative and more sustainable wines. Natural wine (NW) is a controversial category of alternative wines, which needs to be further explored. Given the role of technical experts as opinion leaders, the present work aims to explore the attitudes of Spanish winemakers towards NW and their relationship with their overall environmental awareness. Therefore, 307 Spanish winemakers completed a questionnaire to evaluate: 1) their attitudes towards NW by scoring their agreement with 31 statements, 2) their ecological awareness by evaluating 11 items, 3) their frequency of consumption and interest towards NW, and 4) their sociodemographic profile and general information about wine production. PCA with varimax rotation calculated on 28 of the 31 statements related to their attitudes showed six independent dimensions. Further hierarchical cluster analysis calculated with the six dimensions showed five clusters of wine experts with different attitudes towards NW. Results show that there is a major negative attitude towards the flavour of NW, their ageing capacity and their quality-price ratio, but a positive one in terms of economic impact for the wine industry. Aspects related to the role of NW in tradition, social identity, ecology, health, artisanal production and economic feasibility mark differential attitudes. Interestingly, the dimension related to winemakerś attitude towards tradition, social identity, and ecology of NW was positively correlated with their overall ecological awareness and thus their life style. This paper sheds light in the understanding of the behaviour of Spanish winemakers regarding ecological transition and provides tools for policymaking regarding NW certification.

The definition of regional typicality is a determinant for the preservation of perceived wine quality and protection of wine origin. This work firstly aims at evaluating the sensory diversity of young Tempranillo Tinto wines in the three subregions of DOCa Rioja (Alta-RALT-, Alavesa-RAVS- and Oriental-RO-) and secondly aims to explore the capacity of voltammetric signals to measure sensory differences. Thirty young Tempranillo Tinto wines, ten from each subregion, were sensory-described using a free sorting task followed by a free description task with 32 well-established Rioja winemakers. The sorting task evidenced that the salient sensory differences perceived were between RO and RALT/RAVS, attributed to differences in perceived colour intensity, body/structure and liquorice aroma. The free description task highlighted the core and shared characteristic of the young Tempranillo Tinto Rioja wines, a fresh fruit aroma, but also the unique and specific sensory profiles attached to the three regions. The RALT region presents ripe fruit and spicy and balsamic/mint aromas with powerful tannins, while RAVS’s wines are mainly characterised by their gummy candy, fresh fruit, lactic and floral aromas, with a silky and mellow mouthfeel. The characteristic profile for RO was linked to jammy fruit, with spicy aromas and a light perception in the mouth. The signals derived from linear sweep voltammetry were able to measure the main sensory differences between RO and RALT/RALV, as did the sorting task. This is the first time that scientific research has established the typical regional character of young Tempranillo Tinto Rioja wines, which includes a common and shared profile combined with the specificities linked to each subregion, contributing to a better understanding of the notion of regional typicality in wine.

The present study analyses the sensory effects associated with the interactions between different woody aroma compositions and a simple fruity ester vector in red wines. The semi-synthetic wine models contained a fixed aroma composition, the dearomatised non-volatile fraction of red wine and 21 different combinations of ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity vector) plus 1 out of 3 woody aroma compositions (woody vectors) at 3 possible levels of concentration each. Woody vectors imitated a highly toasted American oak (HAO—elevated levels of whiskylactones and furaneol), a highly toasted French oak (HFO—low levels of whiskylactone and vanillin levels, high levels of eugenol and guaiacol) and a medium toasted French oak (MFO—low levels of whiskylactones, eugenol, guaiacol and furaneol and high levels of vanilla). Models were sensorily assessed by a sorting task and by descriptive analysis. The increase in woody notes causes a concomitant decrease in fruity notes by a competitive perceptual interaction. HAO models are richest in coconut and woody notes and poorest in fruity notes, while HFO models keep strawberry and apple notes. At certain specific fruity-woody vector ratios, particularly in the MFO model, blackcurrant notes emerge, which can be considered a creative perceptual interaction.

Encouraging consumers to reduce their meat consumption is imperative in mitigating climate change effects related to the food industry. For some, transitioning away from meat may be facilitated by meat substitutes. However, these are not always accepted as suitable alternatives to meat due to a combination of psychological, situational, and sensorial aspects. The influence of factors such as cooking ability on hedonics and sensory discrimination of meat and meat substitutes is currently under-researched. The present study investigated such effects. Consumers (N = 101) of varying cooking ability and food neophobia (measured using questionnaires) tasted and evaluated six mince products (one beef and five meat substitutes - three soybean-based, one mycoprotein-based, and one oat-based) prepared in a Bolognese sauce. They rated liking for overall, appearance, aroma, taste/flavour, and texture, and profiled the products sensorially using check-all-that-apply (CATA). It was found that meat substitutes can be liked just as much as, if not more than, beef in the application of Bolognese sauce. No main effects of cooking ability were found for any modality of liking, though an interaction between cooking ability and sample was found for liking of flavour/taste. Consumers' ability to sensorially discriminate between the Bolognese sauces was not dependent on their cooking ability. Several attributes that contributed to (dis)liking were identified. An additional online sample (N = 288) completed only the cooking ability and food neophobia questionnaires. A negative relationship was detected between cooking ability and food neophobia for the combined consumer and online datasets (total N = 389).

In experiential literature there is a collective accord that consumers’ experiences should be conceptualised in a multi-dimensional configuration. From the sensory science viewpoint, the recent focus on consumption experience is gaining momentum but more findings are still needed. This study aims to reveal the dimensions shaping the wine drinking experience as well as their saliency and predominance among consumers with different levels of involvement and expertise. Six contextual focus group interviews were performed with 43 Spanish wine consumers and professionals stratified into groups based on levels of involvement and expertise. The main findings indicate that in all groups, the dimensions of sense, affect, and cognition operate to shape the drinking experience but at different levels. Low involved consumers (LI) privilege sensory and emotional dimensions, while experts attend closely to the sensory and cognitive dimensions. High involved consumers (HI) have an intermediate behaviour between LI and experts relying similarly on sensory, cognitive and affective cues. Results are put in perspective with findings in experiential literature spotlighting the application of the multidimensional experiential framework in sensory and consumer wine science.

During the early months of 2020, the world experienced a novel, violent, and relentless pandemic era. By the end of the year more than seventy-seven million cases of COVID-19 had been reported around the globe. Due to it being a highly contagious disease, the recommended measures adopted by most nations to prevent infection include social distancing and quarantine. How did these measures affect people's relationship with alcohol consumption in cultures where alcohol plays an important social role? A questionnaire-based study, designed to follow the drinking behaviour of people before and during lockdown was applied to two different cultural groups impacted by the pandemic during the strict phase of lockdown. These are the British and Spanish populations (179 participants from each country were interviewed). Considering the frequency of consumption of the alcoholic beverages evaluated (wine, beer, cider, whisky and spirits), the results showed that a significant lockdown*country interaction was observed. Overall, Spanish participants consumed alcoholic beverages less frequently during lockdown than before, while British participants reported no change in their consumption habits. Spaniards’ decrease in alcohol consumption is related to the absence of a social contexts while Britons seems to have adapted their consumption to the modified context. Results suggest that, alcohol consumption is a central core of the British culture, while for the Spanish, socialization is more a cultural characteristic than the alcohol itself.