Talking about wine is talking about the unique experiences, sensations and moments spent with a glass of wine. It is about engaging all five senses, savouring each sip in search of new sensations. With this in mind, Agrovin has designed its new Sensations Catalogue, inspired by each and every sensation experienced when drinking a glass of wine.
Each wine has a unique character thanks to the efforts of the oenologist, work which is supported by Agrovin as advisers and allies when it comes to defining the personality of the wine at each and every stage in the winemaking and refining process. Thanks to the sensations map designed by Agrovin’s technical team, wineries can know from the outset the most suitable products for each stage of the process.
Although it can also be quite complicated to define the profile of a wine which adapts to consumer tastes, there are a set of trends which co-exist across all markets, such as:
- Wines aged in wood barrels, but ones which preserve the fruit flavour.
- Structured wines, but ones without astringency.
- Unstructured and very fruity wines.
- Wines without sugar, but ones with sweetness.
- Wines with length, but ones without sulphites.
- Wines which are not only organic, but also wines for vegans.
All these attributes form a set of balances that can be treated separately: Fruit-Wood, Structure-Astringency, Sweetness-Acidity, etc. so that, together, they form an overall balance between tactile and aromatic sensations. These attributes have been integrated into Agrovin’s new sensations catalogue, through the sensations map. This map makes it possible to know which products are necessary to define the character of the wine you want to achieve.
Luis Cotanda, el actual director de marketing de Grupo Agrovin, será en encargado de guiarnos por este amplio catálogo de sensaciones y descubrirnos sus novedades a través de una sencilla entrevista:
Why create a sensations catalogue? What is the basis for its structure and definition?
When creating a wine, every oenologist has a clear idea of how they want the wine to turn out, because they, better than anyone, know their consumers’ tastes and need to adapt their wines to a defined aromatic and taste profile.
Within this wine profile, the aromatic and tactile sensations form a balance in which all the sensations complement each other.
When winemakers consider determining the wine’s character by using oenological products, they need to know how these products will influence that overall balance. For this reason, in this catalogue we decided to classify the products, not by what they are, but based on their overall effect on the wine.
Another special feature of this catalogue is its infographics; we have designed a sensations map which allows us to graphically display which sensations each product provides. With this system, we facilitate decision-making when it comes to defining the character of a wine.
What are the most significant new developments?
Each season, the Agrovin catalogue displays new products which help to improve wine quality, ones which winemakers need in order to define the character of their wines, which, as we said earlier, responds to consumer tastes and trends.
In this edition, as part of our ongoing mission to make the winemaker’s work easier, we have designed a new mannoprotein in liquid format which, due to its low turbidity and low colouration, can be used just before bottling without compromising the colour of the wines and their filterability.
The other innovation this year has been the incorporation of Topping, an oak format which possesses the intensity of an alternative: the precision and integration of a refining tannin and the volume and sweetness of a polysaccharide.
What does this catalogue mean for winemakers and what will they find inside?
The sensations catalogue is the perfect tool to help oenologists define the character of their wines in the simplest and most efficient way.
We know that winemakers are constantly adapting, trying to create wines for increasingly demanding consumers. We are part of that evolution and we want to make it as easy as possible for them to achieve their goals in terms of quality, because, at Agrovin, we share those goals.
If you were a consumer, with the experience you have in the winemaking world, what type of wine would you ask an oenologist to make?
The current market is very competitive and it is difficult to define a ‘model’ type of wine to make.
On the other hand, consumer taste is a wide-ranging concept because there isn’t just one single type of consumer, tastes are varied and sometimes contradictory.
Consumers often want wines aged in wood barrels but which preserve the fruit, structured wines, but ones without astringency, and they also prefer sweet wines, but ones without sugar. Trying to balance all these aspects is not an easy task.
What wine would I ask for? I would ask for a wine that can be sold, that’s to say, a wine which gets people talking, a wine with something different, showcasing its geographical area and specific characteristics.
What kind of wine would you give to a good friend?
If they are a good friend, it means that I know their tastes; whether they prefer red or white wine, whether they prefer the prevalence of wood over fruit or whether they value aromatic or tactile sensations more.
Knowing this, I would look for a wine which they will like but one they haven’t tried before, hoping to surprise them with a particular geographical area or winemaking method; a wine which allows me to demonstrate that I know their tastes, but one with which I can also surprise them at the same time.
Download the Agrovin catalogue here