Fermentative Aroma Compounds and Sensory Descriptors of Traditional Croatian Dessert Wine Prošek from Plavac mali cv.

Prošek is a traditional dessert wine from the coastal region of Croatia made from partially dried grapes. There is very little literature data about the chemical composition and sensory properties of Prošek, so an experimental production from the dried grapes of Plavac mali cultivar has been done using native and induced alcoholic fermentations. To determine the volatile compounds, gas chromatography with flame ionisation detector (GC/FID) was used on the samples prepared with solid phase microextraction (SPME). Higher alcohols, esters, carbonyl compounds and volatile acids were determined in the wine samples. Wines were grouped according to the production method using principal component analysis (PCA). It was found that Prošek wines produced with native and induced alcoholic fermentation differ in their volatile compounds. Descriptive sensory analysis was applied to show the sensory properties of Prošek wine, whose characteristic aromas include those of dried fruit (raisins), red berries, honey, chocolate and vanilla. A significant difference depending on the type of fermentation was determined in two sensory attributes, strawberry jam aroma and fullness.