How good is your sense of identity?

How good is your sense of identity?

By Janette Busch

Elizabeth Tomasino, a PhD student in the Wine, Food and Molecular Biosciences Department at Lincoln University has recently completed a study of the sensory characteristics of New Zealand Pinot noir wines produced in different regions.

“Classifying the regional styles of New Zealand Pinot noir has become of great interest as many of these wines are considered premium products,” said Elizabeth.

“Understanding what tastes and aromas are characteristic of the different Pinot noir wine regions can be a strong tool used for wine production, marketing and education.”

In her study Elizabeth looked at the aroma and palate differences of 32 commercial Pinot noir wines from the four main Pinot noir regions of New Zealand; Central Otago, Marlborough, Martinborough and Waipara.

A hallmark of the New Zealand wine industry is their willingness to promote and support study. Elizabeth gained much industry experience at Pernod Ricard’s Brancott winery in Marlborough and had the pleasure of using beautiful Pinot noir wines from a dozen winemakers for her study.

Twenty-five sensory attributes were chosen from a preliminary tasting and then 21 experienced wine tasters used descriptive analysis to classify regional differences.

Clear regional differences arose for each region: Central Otago, Marlborough, Martinborough and Waipara, proving that Pinot noir wines from the different areas of New Zealand do have specific styles. In fact, the results of the study agree with how many wine professionals have also described these wines.

There were vintage differences between 2007 and 2008. However the same nature of separation was found in each year, suggesting that even with vintage effects, a similar pattern of differentiation occurs each year.

Elizabeth came to Lincoln University after completing a Master of Science in Food Science (Oenology) at Cornell University, USA.

“It has been an exciting time for me over the last three years as I have learnt about New Zealand’s ways and wines.”

Elizabeth’s research, which was funded jointly by Pernod Ricard NZ, the Ministry of Science and Innovation and Lincoln University, was a small part of a much larger PhD project she is undertaking into characterising regional examples of New Zealand Pinot noir using sensory and chemical analysis.

In 2011 the Institute of Food Technology awarded Elizabeth a Sensory and Consumer Science PhD Scholarship

Her project was supervised by Dr Roland Harrison, Associate Professor Robert Sherlock and Dr Richard Sedcole, Consultant in Biometrics & Statistics, all from the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Lincoln University and Andy Frost from Pernod Ricard NZ Ltd.

ENDS