20 September 2000 Bringing 'sense' to wine evaluation

A Lincoln University research project has received a $1500 grant to develop a new system for using the human senses to evaluate the quality of wine.

Dr Wendy Parr, an experimental psychologist, is among six students and five staff members who have shared an allocation of funds from Lincoln University's Fund for Excellence. The fund distributes money raised from alumni towards promising research projects.

Dr Parr's Fund for Excellence grant will be used to study methods of sensory evaluation at Oregon State University. She says the evaluation of wine with the human senses is as important as chemical analysis, and the project aims to produce a cost-effective and user-friendly system for Lincoln's Centre for Viticulture and Oenology.

"Unlike a mechanical device, the human can't be calibrated to provide a consistent sensory reading," she says. "We know that people have different sensitivities in their taste buds and sense of smell, but we also know that the sensory evaluation differs depending on our perceptions and memories.

"We are aiming to develop a technique that not only allows for the differences between individuals but lets us study these differences. The technique is based on a mathematical model that takes a geometrical approach to help interpret the data from wine tasting experiments.

"Sensory evaluation is a critical component of many research projects in viticulture and oenology but sensory research has fallen behind the progress that's been made in chemical analysis. This is an opportunity to draw on the latest research in sensory evaluation and develop methods that may be of major benefit to our wine industry."

The methods developed are expected to be available for commercial use and for research in the wine industry and for other primary production, such as olive oil.

Lincoln's Fund for Excellence was the first of its kind established by a New Zealand university, and aims to promote excellence in teaching, research and student services using funds collected in an annual appeal to alumni, University Council members and friends of Lincoln University.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand