WINETECH Technical Yearbook 2020

prior to sensory evaluation influence results (Louw et al ., 2014). In addition, the cellar palate phenomenon is a reality and winemakers often subconsciously choose their own wines as the best, as that is what they are used to and what they like. Furthermore, if a large quantity of wines is tested, serving order effects are a concern as the order in which the wines are tasted can influence sensory perceptions. For example, if a delicate wine is tasted right after a bold wine, it can be perceived as insipid. The second option is to use a scientifically proven sensory analysis approach per- formed by a sensory science professional. While this may be more costly and may seem excessive to some, there are many benefits. Sensory best practices ensure that all bias is eliminated, while the inde- pendent results from a third party provide a more objective view. Furthermore, this approach is quantitative and can provide clearer guidelines for product improve- ment based on empirical evidence. In terms of sensory methodologies, rapid sensory profiling is recommended for benchmarking. Its cost-effectiveness is

The market and consumers’ mindsets change constantly, and it is important to keep track of who is the best and why, and how you can improve to be relevant and competitive throughout your products’ lifetime. The quest to be the best should be an integral part of your business (Dembowski, 2013). The best timing for annual wine benchmarking is the sweet spot between the release of new vintages and the start of the next growing season. This gives winemakers and viticulturists enough time to create a strategy for the best practices to achieve the desired results. PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR WINE SENSORY BENCHMARKING There are two options for benchmarking your wine. The first is a simple benchtop or in-house exercise where wines are stacked up and tasted by the winemaking team and perhaps a few other experts. This should ideally be done blind. While this is the most cost-efficient option, there are several disadvantages to the approach. The first is that while the tasters may not be able to see the brands, there is still a considerable amount of bias. Panellists’ expectations

appropriate for repeated studies, and the methods are well suited for wine experts, as well as trained panels. Some examples include the Check-All-That-Apply (CATA), Polarised Sensory Positioning and the Pivot Profiling methods. Each method has advantages and disadvantages and the appropriate test, or combination of tests, should be selected according to the objective of the benchmarking exercise. CATA is especially useful for benchmarking as the results are easy to compare on a year-on-year basis. The final word is that sensory benchmark - ing is an essential tool for ensuring that a wine delivers on consumers’ demands. Great taste is a strong driver of repurchas- ing. A positive taste experience reflects well on a brand and facilitates growth both through repurchasing and word-of-mouth product recommendations. REFERENCES Thach, L. & Camillo, A., 2018. Snapshot of the American wine consumer. Winebusi- ness.com , December, 10, 2918. Dembowski, F.L., 2013. The roles of bench- marking, best practices, and innovation in organizational effectiveness. The Interna-

tional Journal of Organizational Innova- tion 5: 6-20. Watson, G.H., 1993. Strategic benchmark- ing: How to rate your company’s perfor - mance against the world’s best. Wiley, New York. Camp, R.C., 1998. Best practice bench- marking: The path to excellence. The Man- agement Accounting Magazine 72: 10-14. Taschner, A., 2016. Improving SME logis- tics performance through benchmarking. Benchmarking: An International Journal 23: 1780-1797. Louw, L., Oelofse, S., Naes, T., Lambrechts, M., Van Rensburg, P. & Nieuwoudt, H.H., 2014. Trained sensory panellists’ response to product alcohol content in the projective mapping task: Observations on alcohol content, product complexity and prior knowledge. Food Quality and Preference 34: 37-44.

For more information, contact Hélène Nieuwoudt at hhn@sun.ac.za.

WINETECH TECHNICAL YEARBOOK 2020 79