SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS EVALUATION OF MALVAZIJA ISTARSKA WINE (Vitis vinifera L.)

The influence of climatic conditions and of the soil type (red, black, gray and white) on sensory characteristics of Istrian Malvasia (Vitis vinifera L.) wine was studied during harvest 2011, in Brtonigla municipality commercial vineyards, located in the West Istrian vineyards. In the student wine cellar of the Department of Agriculture in Porec, a separate vinification in 130 L barrels was conducted using the same vinification protocol in order to monitor the development of wine sensory characteristics.. Chemical analyses were performed using the OIV analytical methods. Sensory evaluation of Istrian Malvasia wines was conducted on two occasions, in December 2011 and in May 2012 using a descriptive assessment of wine aromatic characteristics, the order evaluation method, and wine score OIV 100 points evaluation method. According to the results obtained in the first wine aroma profile sensory evaluation, mainly floral and fruity aroma notes were represented in all variants, while in the second the herbal and aromatic plants notes came out. From the sensory evaluation results of the flavour intensity and typicality, in the first assessment the most intensive aroma was expressed in the black soil while in the second one in the red soil. According to the typicality in the first sensory evaluation the most typical samples were from the red and white soil while in the second the most typical Istrian Malvasia was from the red soil. Finally, the results showed that, in the agro ecological conditions of harvest 2011, the red soil wine, which was dominated by aromatic characteristics, the tasters recognized as the “typical Istrian Malvasia wine”.