The impact of geographic origin, vintage and wine estate on sensory properties of Vitis vinifera cv. Riesling wines

The official quality designation for German wines is solely based on the degree of ripeness in grapes, while most other wine producing countries in Europe rely on a geographic classification system. A descriptive analysis (DA) investigated the sensory properties of commercial Riesling wines from two vintages, five wine estates and six vineyard designations within the viticulture region Rheingau. Based on the number of significant F-ratios among 10 odor and 4 orally perceived attributes, vintage and wine estate proved to have a similar impact as vineyard designation. Principal component analysis revealed substantial variations within the same vineyard designation and demonstrated the strong impact of the individual wine estate and vintage. Hence, a classification system focusing on geographic origin alone would be rather confusing for consumers, because wines differ substantially regarding their sensory appearance within the same vineyard designation.