SENSORY PROFILE OF AIREN GRAPES AND THEIR MUSTS FOR THE PREDICTION OFTHE WINE CHARACTERISTICS

Eight sensory attributes, freely chosen by the panelists, permitted th e differentiation of Airen grapes belonging to five Spanish viticultur al subzones (Moral, Sierra, Sudeste, Vega and Abertura) by means of th eir spiderweb diagrams. Another nine attributes distinguished the corr esponding musts. Application of PCA to the sensory scores revealed tha t five attributes explained 81.9% of the variance existing among grape s grown in the different subzones. A similar result was obtained for t he musts. Grapes from two of the five subzones, Moral and Sierra, yiel ded the highest scores with regard to overall impression. Consequently , from the results obtained it is advisable to harvest Airen grapes wh en the sugar is close to 200 g/L, and total acidity is less than 5 g/L (tartaric acid), while they still present green hues and a berry diam eter between 1.3-1.5 cm. In this way the fruity character and absence of astringency was ensured in the obtained musts, both attributes bein g desirable in order to achieve good quality wines.