Definition of a sensory lexicon and development of sensory wheels of eighteen monovarietal Italian white wines.

BACKGROUND: Italy harbors one of the richest grapevine biodiversities worldwide, yet the sensory identity of wines from many native cultivars remains poorly defined despite their relevance on the market at regional, national, or international levels. This study provides a systematic sensory characterization of 18 Italian monovarietal white wines, analyzed across 246 commercial samples, including wines never investigated before by sensory analysis. Analysis of variance, hierarchical cluster analysis, and principal component analysis were applied to Rate-All-That-Apply (RATA) data performed by trained panelists to define a lexicon and identify the sensory attributes characterizing and discriminating the 18 wine types. RESULTS: A statistically based lexicon comprising 29 olfactory and seven taste/mouthfeel descriptors was defined.Multivariate statistics showed that the 18monovarietalwine types belong to four main olfactory dimensions, labeled as fruity–balsamic, thiolic–mineral, floral– sweet, and toasty–dried. A three-dimensional space was defined along the four olfactory directions. Müller Thurgau, Gewürztraminer, Albana, and Falanghinaemerged as themost representativewines in these directions, outlining the vertices of a spatial frameworkwithin and aroundwhich the other wines are distributed. Sensorywheels representing structured visual synthesis of themost relevant attributes (odor, taste, mouthfeel) were developed as ‘identity models’, providing systematic tools for defining wines' varietal typicality. CONCLUSION: Results are relevant for enologists and wine sellers as standardized reference sensory models for production and communication, as benchmarks for PDO/PGI quality control and disciplinary improvement, for researchers to advance modeling of wine sensory quality through sensometabolomic wine studies. Results also support the international recognition and valorization of Italian grapevine biodiversity according to Agenda 2030 sustainable development goals.