Effects of Malolactic Fermentation on Sensory Properties of Four Burgundy Wines

¹ Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Biologie Appliquée la Nutrition et l'Alimentation, 1 Esplanade Erasme, Campus Universitaire Montmuzard, 21000 Dijon, France.

The Burgundy wines studied for this paper were made with Chardonnay and Pinot noir grapes harvested in 1991 and 1992 and evaluated in May 1994. When examining the results of triangle tests (12 judges, 4 repetitions), the differences between MLF and no-MLF wines were low, but they were significant. As expected, the no-MLF wines, except for the 1991 Pinot, were perceived more acid than the MLF wines. Furthermore, pair tests showed MLF changed the aromatic profile of wines, but only slightly. The Chardonnay wines were perceived higher in hazelnut, fresh bread, and dried fruit aromas, whereas Pinot noir wines lost part of their berry notes in favor of animal and vegetable notes. On the contrary, the absence of MLF kept specific aromas such as apple and grapefruit-orange in Chardonnay and strawberry-raspberry in Pinot noir.

Key words: Pinot noir, Chardonnay, malolactic fermentation, sensory analysis, differential profile

Submitted on January 2, 1995