Don't stray over that CRT

S

SFJoe

Joe Dougherty
Such broad applicability to the concept, I suspect we'll be seeing a lot more of it.

28 May 2009

How much is too much has been the enduring question posed by winemakers when trying to assess consumer preference for a eucalyptus flavour in Australian red wine.

Researchers at the National and Wine and Grape Industry Centre (NWGIC) at Charles Sturt University (CSU) at Wagga Wagga have designed a tool to definitively answer the divisive question surrounding eucalyptus flavour.

There is much debate within the industry about whether eucalyptus flavour is a positive or negative trait in wine, said Dr Anthony Saliba, a Sensory Scientist at the NWGIC.

Dr Anthony Saliba from NWGIC. Some wine judges have been rather outspoken on the issue, even calling it a taint, while others see it as a regional character. Every wine show I speak at, I get asked what level winemakers should aim for, or whether they should be throwing wine out at really high levels.

Dr Saliba and his colleagues Professor Jim Hardie and Ms Jennifer Bullock have conducted a consumer preference experiment. The result is a graph to take the guess work out of assessing eucalyptus flavour in red wines.

For absolute clarity, we discovered the exact level of the compound 1,8-cineole after which consumers reject the eucalyptus flavour.

The Consumer Rejection Threshold (CRT) is the point at which most people wont like the flavour, so winemakers know not to release that to the market. There are a number of things a winemaker can do in response, the easiest of which is blending with unaffected wine to reduce to more positive levels.

There is now no more wondering. Whats more, the technique can be used to figure out consumer acceptance of other flavours, provided the chemical compound is known, said fellow researcher and Professor of Winegrowing Innovation, Jim Hardie.

As part of the study, 40 regular wine drinkers were recruited from the general community in Wagga Wagga to participate in wine tastings and questionnaires about the preference for eucalyptus flavour.

The research is outlined in the article, Consumer Rejection Threshold for 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol) in Australian Red Wine, which will published in the journal Food Quality and Preference in 2009.

The NWGIC combines research, extension, education and training for the wine industry and is an alliance of CSU, NSW Department of Primary Industries and NSW Wine Industry Association.
 
I can't wait for my issue of Food Quality and Preference to arrive (it's on a slow boat) so I can read the entire article.

The study consisted of 40 people selected from Wagga Wagga? That's like snagging 40 people from Fresno to decide how many oak chips (or staves, for that matter) are too many. Were the same study on eucalypt notes done in the Clare Valley or Heathcote I imagine the thresholds would be a little higher. By the same token, run a sample group in Sydney or somewhere up in Queensland and I'm sure you'd find little or no tolerance for 1,8-cineole.

-Eden (in fact, in Queensland they'd likely be wondering why someone gave them wine instead of beer)
 
I'm not SF Joe but they have lots of eucalyptus trees growing in certain wine regions and the bees don't wipe their feet after flying through the eucalyptus forest and the 1,8-cineole gets stuck to the grape flowers as the bees traipse through the vineyards, thereby imparting aromas that people in Wagga Wagga don't much like (apparently).

To calm it down, they'd need to move the vineyards, cut down the trees, wash the bees better, or just blend it with wine that doesn't have as much eucalyptus in its profile. A similar blended approach works wonders in the Barossa Valley where water problems have led to an increase in the salinity in the underground water in certain low-lying parts of the valley. Blending wine from other nearby regions alleviates this problem, but tends to cut back on the option of producing a single vineyard wine if your single vineyard happens to suffer from the salt.

-Eden (S Australia is an eco-disaster in the making)
 
originally posted by SFJoe:

The research is outlined in the article, Consumer Rejection Threshold for 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol) in Australian Red Wine, which will published in the journal Food Quality and Preference in 2009.
Click to expand...

I love those names. Eucalyptol is neither an alcohol[1] nor a cineol(e) (according to the standard definition), but I suppose that you have to come up with something snappier than 1,3,3-trimethyl-2-oxabicyclo[2.2.2]octane. I see from Wikipedia that cajeputol is a synonym, though, so I'll go with that since it also gives that frisson of excitement with its allusion to puta.

Mark Lipton

[1] Yes, of course it's based in the historical suffix -l, acknowleging its oily nature, but that problem was long ago rectified for many other -ls such as benzl, so why not here?
 
I've mentioned this many times, but I used to live a block downwind from a big eucalyptus tree in San Francisco. After nights when the wind and the fog blew, I would come out in the morning and find my car covered in eucalyptus oil. I would have to get soap and windex to get my windshield clean enough to drive to work. Don't need no stinkin' bees, and the quantities transported are plenty enough to flavor grapes.

The fog accumulates on the leaves, emulsifies with oil by shaking in the wind, then blows off as big drops. I hate the trees. This is why I had one of them tortured into thin slices that decorate the inside of my apartment.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
I've mentioned this many times, but I used to live a block down wind from a big eucalyptus tree in San Francisco. On nights when the wind and the fog blew, I would come out and find my car covered in eucalyptus oil. I would have to get soap and windex to get my windshield clean enough to drive to work. Don't need no stinkin' bees, and the quantities transported are plenty enough to flavor grapes.

The fog accumulates on the leaves, emulsifies with oil in the wind, then blows off as big drops. I hate the trees. This is why I had one of them tortured into thin slices that decorate the inside of my apartment.
Click to expand...

You hate them, but you keep them in your house. Very interesting...what else is in your house?
 
originally posted by Steve Edmunds:
originally posted by SFJoe:
I've mentioned this many times, but I used to live a block down wind from a big eucalyptus tree in San Francisco. On nights when the wind and the fog blew, I would come out and find my car covered in eucalyptus oil. I would have to get soap and windex to get my windshield clean enough to drive to work. Don't need no stinkin' bees, and the quantities transported are plenty enough to flavor grapes.

The fog accumulates on the leaves, emulsifies with oil in the wind, then blows off as big drops. I hate the trees. This is why I had one of them tortured into thin slices that decorate the inside of my apartment.
Click to expand...

You hate them, but you keep them in your house. Very interesting...what else is in your house?
Click to expand...
You should ask, what else is in my freezer?
 
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