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ShuYan Liu has obtaine the PH.D. degree by the University of La Rioja

Mouth tactile sensations are the sensory factors that most influence the evaluation of the quality and structure of Spanish ultra-premium red wines. In the same way, the structure of the wine exerts a partial and complementary mediation effect between the tactile sensations in the mouth and the global evaluation of the quality of ultra-premium red wines.

These are some of the conclusions of the doctoral thesis 'Characters responsible for the quality and structure of ultra-premium red wines' with which ShuYan Liu has obtained his doctorate from the University of La Rioja and in which he analyzes the characters responsible for the intrinsic quality of these wines.

The thesis also analyzes the implication of the polyphenolic composition in the attributes of the wine and once again highlights the importance of tannins, followed by monomeric anthocyanins and flavonols.

Developed at the Department of Agriculture and Food of the University of La Rioja – within the framework of the Doctorate program in Oenology, Viticulture and Sustainability (Royal Decree 99/2011) – and at the Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino (CSIC, Government of La Rioja, UR), this thesis has been directed by Marta Mª Inés Dizy Soto and Agustín V. Ruiz Vega and has achieved the qualification of outstanding 'cum laude' with international mention.

On the one hand, the new doctor from the University of La Rioja has analyzed the sensory attributes (aroma, flavor and tactile sensation in the mouth) that play a relevant role when it comes to predicting intrinsic quality, an aspect on which hardly any research has been done. investigating in ultra-premium wines.

The results obtained highlight the importance of mouth tactile sensations when evaluating the intrinsic quality of an ultra-premium red wine, ahead of aromas. In the same way, the thesis maintains that flavors do not have great relevance.

In addition, the thesis addresses how experts perceive the structure of wine and concludes that mouth tactile sensations are also the most important factor in its formation, ahead of aromas. Flavors, on their side, do not allow differentiating the quality and structure of ultra-premium wines because they are very balanced.

In addition, the research analyzes the role that non-volatile compounds present in wine can play in predicting its quality. In this case, it stands out that tannins, anthocyanins and monomeric flavonols are the compounds with the greatest quality predictive capacity.

The thesis has also developed two causal models from which the quality of ultra-premium wines could be predicted: one based on their sensory attributes (aroma, flavor and mouth tactile sensation) and another based on non-volatile chemical attributes.

This doctoral thesis has been financed by a pre-doctoral contract for the training of research staff and grants for short stays in Spain and abroad from the University of La Rioja.

In addition, for the development of his thesis, the new doctor carried out an international research stay at the Oenological Chemistry Laboratory of the University of Padova (Italy) with doctor Simone Vincenzi.