Impact of serving temperature on the perception of Swedish still and sparkling white wines

Sparkling and still white wines are recommended to be served chilled; 6–8°C for light white wines and 10–12°C for more complex. Higher temperatures allow a more intense sensory experience from volatiles, often preferred for complex, mature wines. For sparkling wines, recommended serving temperature is 6–10°C, sometimes “as cold as possible,” to prolong the sparkling sensation. The sensory experience is largely dependent on the sparkling effect, but also on volatiles which are affected by temperature. The aim was to study the effect of temperature on the sensory experience of still and sparkling white wines. Test materials were Swedish produced still and sparkling white wines. They were analyzed at three temperatures and subjected to descriptive sensory analysis and gas chromatography. Increased serving temperature significantly impacted sensory experience and released volatiles. We conclude that the flavours of the wines are due to combinations of many chemical compounds, not only a few. In sparkling wine, perception of sparkling sensation was highly dependent on temperature, which significantly changed bubble size. Due to a higher release of bitter off‑flavours and temperature effect on bubble size, we conclude that the sensory experience of sparkling white wine is more dependent on serving temperature than white wine.