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Research on sparkling wine (SW) consumers, their market segmentation, and how they use purchase cues is relatively sparse compared to that for table wine, despite the substantial growth in sparkling wine in recent years. We address these gaps and particularly how the importance of SW purchase cues varies with wine involvement in an online survey of SW consumers from Ontario, Canada (n = 1011). Thirty intrinsic and extrinsic purchase cues were rated for importance (n = 609), and wine involvement was determined using the shortened version of the wine involvement scale. Overall, consumers rated (in descending order) price, flavour, quality, country, and sweetness level as the most important purchase cues, whereas several extrinsic factors, including bottle colour and shape, awards won, and vintage were of low importance. Females were 1.4 times more likely than males to cite target end use as the most important purchase cue. We further show that SW consumers can be segmented into three wine involvement categories (low, medium, high) which vary across multiple demographic, consumption, knowledge, and preference measures (n = 1003). Notably, the importance of six purchase cue categories (manufacture, price, endorsements, parentage, prestige/reputation, and place) varied with wine involvement (n = 609). These findings provide timely guidance for marketers and retailers seeking to align their products and communications with the needs and perceptions of SW consumers.

The role of the individual is increasingly a focus in sustainability discourses. We develop and operationalize indicators to measure individual attitudes as they relate to social-ecological resilience, using water systems (or ‘water resilience’) as a focusing concept. We developed a questionnaire instrument and use a vignette technique for addressing the complexity of social-ecological resilience. The instrument was pilot tested in three stages and through this process we Results from the pilot study (Stage 3) indicated that endorsement of the principles of resilience was high overall, and that two factors emerged from the seven principles (one focused on the physical system and the other on governance) that could be considered in future studies. These indicators and the technique used to collect data for them is promising for the purpose of assessing individual level attitude alignment with social-ecological resilience of water systems, and further testing of this instrument in other settings is recommended.

The Maillard reaction between sugars and amino acids, peptides, or proteins generates a myriad of aroma compounds through complex and multi-step reaction pathways. While the Maillard has been primarily studied in the context of thermally processed foods, Maillard-associated products including thiazoles, furans, and pyrazines have been identified in aged sparkling wines, with associated bready, roasted, and caramel aromas. Sparkling wines produced in the bottle-fermented traditional method (Méthode Champenoise) have been the primary focus of studies related to Maillard-associated compounds in sparkling wine, and these wines undergo two sequential fermentations, with the second taking place in the final wine bottle. Due to the low temperature (15 ± 3°C) and low pH (pH 3–4) conditions during production and aging, we conclude that Maillard interactions may not proceed past intermediate stages. Physicochemical factors that affect the Maillard reaction are considered in the context of sparkling wine, particularly related to pH-dependent reaction pathways and existing literature pertaining to low temperature and/or low pH Maillard activity. A focus on the origins and composition of precursor species (amino acids and sugars) in sparkling wines is presented, as well as the potential role of metal ions in accelerating the Maillard reaction. Understanding the contributions of individual physicochemical factors to the Maillard reaction in sparkling wine enables a clearer understanding of reaction pathways and sensory outcomes. Advancements in analytical techniques for monitoring the Maillard reaction are also described, and important areas of future research on this topic are identified.

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of caffeic and caftaric acid, fructose, and storage temperature on the formation of furan-derived compounds during storage of base wines. Base wines produced from Chardonnay grapes were stored at 15 and 30 °C for 90 days with additions of fructose, caffeic acid, and caftaric acid independently or in combinations. Wines were analyzed following 90 days of storage for: total hydroxycinnamic acids, degree of browning, caffeic acid and caftaric acid concentrations, and nine furan-derived compounds. Caffeic and caftaric acid additions increased homofuraneol concentration by 31% and 39%, respectively, at 15 °C (p < 0.05). Only the addition of caffeic acid increased furfural by 15% at 15 °C (p < 0.05). Results demonstrate that some furan derivatives over 90 days at 15 °C increased slightly with 5 mg/L additions of caffeic and caftaric acid. This is the first time the influence of hydroxycinnamic acids on furan-derived compounds has been reported during short-term aging of base wine at cellar temperature.

Wine label information is an important aid for consumers in making purchase decisions. However, the influence of label information types in the context of sparkling wines is poorly understood, despite the global growth of this product class. Using an online survey of 576 Ontario sparkling wine consumers, we sought to examine this knowledge gap using two complementary approaches. First, participants were presented with a set of two mock sparkling wine labels, selected at random, from a set of eight conditions. One condition (control) contained all seven of the information types previously identified (endorsements, parentage, attributes, target end use, target end user, manufacture, nonpareil), whereas the other seven omitted one of each of these elements. Respondents then rated their willingness to buy, willingness to pay, and the perception of quality. Lastly, they self-rated the importance placed on 14 different label information statements when purchasing sparkling wine (5-point Likert scale from 1–not at all important to 5–extremely important). Results show that including a description of the wine’s sensory attributes on sparkling wine labels is important to consumers overall, except for those with a high subjective knowledge of sparkling wine, and those who normally spend more than CAD 30 per bottle, as these groups are more willing to buy, willing to pay, and rate their perception of quality higher for labels that do not include attribute information. Grape variety/blend and production region information are rated high in importance. Alcohol content is more important to young consumers and those who prefer Prosecco-style sparkling wines, whereas vintage/year is more important to consumers who prefer Champagne-style sparkling wines. Expert endorsements are rated low in importance, and younger consumers are more willing to buy sparkling wine with the endorsement information removed. We conclude that sparkling wine label information content should be optimised for different market segments and consumer characteristics. This study provides important insights that can guide sparkling wine marketers and retailers in this process.

Cultured or “clean” meat (CM) is arguably a more ethical and environmentally sustainable alternative to farmed meat, but several potential psychological barriers exist to its acceptance in the marketplace. The perceptions of youth, as a specific consumer cohort, have not been reported to date despite young adults having more flexible dietary habits and being more likely to avoid red meat because of animal welfare and environmental concerns. Thus, youth represent a demographic that may be more accepting of CM and for whom the pro-environmental consequences of early adoption may be realized across an entire lifespan. In this study of college-aged Canadians (mean = 20 years), we examined perceptions of CM (mixed methods) and assessed the effects of educational messaging about its benefits and then naturalness framing on intention to consume it (within subjects quantitative experimental design). Results show that youth believe CM to be unnatural, ethical, and environmentally friendly, and that taste is an important element of acceptance. Linear regression showed that food disgust was a significant predictor for both intent to incorporate CM into regular diet and completely replace meat/meat substitutes with CM. In both instances, increasing food disgust was associated with lower behavioral intent. Environmental values were also a predictor for completely replacing meat/meat substitutes with CM, where it positively affected intent and showed a similar effect size to food disgust. Both messaging on the benefits of CM and naturalness framing increased intent to consume it across all three measures and by a similar magnitude [p (F) < 0.05]. These findings provide timely and actionable information for both CM producers and marketers and contribute to scholarship on the role of values and psychological traits in sustainable food choices.

Winemaking in cool climate viticultural areas can pose challenges due to difficulties in achieving optimal ripeness from climatic conditions that tend to vary vintage-to-vintage. To stabilize quality, the use of partially dehydrated grapes has been indicated as beneficial to the production of high-quality wine (“appassimento” style) despite climatic variation. Postharvest wine grape dehydration is a complex process that involves the concentration or formation of sugars, aromas, and flavours. One of the quality challenges facing appassimento style winemaking is elevated levels of undesirable oxidation compounds. The aim of this study was to characterize wines made from a local yeast isolate, Saccharomyces uvarum CN1, which demonstrates limited osmotolerance and may have application to this wine style, as it is a known lower producer of such compounds. Wines made with CN1 were compared to wines made with the accepted commercial standard, S. cerevisiae, EC1118. Fermentations (n = 24) were established at three target starting sugar concentrations from dehydrated Cabernet franc grapes (24.5, 26.0, and 27.5°Brix) and a control (21.5°Brix) and were assessed for volatile organic compound (VOC) composition via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Wines also underwent quantitative descriptive analysis to identify and quantify sensory attributes by a trained panel (n = 11). Results show that the wines fermented with the yeast isolate contain significant differences in the concentrations of VOCs in the wines. Sensorially, the wines differed in intensity for a number of attributes, including red fruit aroma, black fruit flavour, and length of finish both within Brix treatments and amongst yeast strains. The most important differentiating factor amongst these wines was the combination of yeast strain at the highest starting sugar concentration (27.5°Brix). These findings may assist winemakers by informing the yeast strain choice for optimizing appassimento style wine quality in cool climates.

Alkyl-methoxypyrazines are an important class of odor-active molecules that contribute green, ‘unripe’ characters to wine and are considered undesirable in most wine styles. They are naturally occurring grape metabolites in many cultivars, but can also be derived from some Coccinellidae species when these ‘ladybugs’ are inadvertently introduced into the must during harvesting operations. The projected impacts of climate change are discussed, and we conclude that these include an altered alkyl-methoxypyrazine composition in grapes and wines in many wine regions. Thus, a careful consideration of how to manage them in both the vineyard and winery is important and timely. This review brings together the relevant literatures on viticultural and oenological interventions aimed at mitigating alkyl-methoxypyrazine loads, and makes recommendations on their management with an aim to maintaining wine quality under a changing and challenging climate.

Ladybug taint (also known as ladybird taint) is a relatively recently recognized fault that has been identified in wines from a wide range of terroirs. Alkyl-methoxypyrazines—particularly 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine—have been determined as the causal compounds, and these are introduced into grape must during processing, when specific species of vineyard-dwelling Coccinellidae are incorporated into the harvested fruit. Coccinella septempunctata, and especially the invasive Harmonia axyridis, are the beetles implicated, and climate change is facilitating wider dispersal and survivability of H. axyridis in viticultural regions worldwide. Affected wines are typically characterized as possessing excessively green, bell pepper-, and peanut-like aroma and flavor. In this paper, we review a range of vineyard practices that seek to reduce Coccinellidae densities, as well as both “standard” and novel wine treatments aimed at reducing alkyl-methoxypyrazine load. We conclude that while prevention of ladybug taint is preferable, there are several winery interventions that can remediate the quality of wine affected by this taint, although they vary in their relative efficacy and specificity.

Consumers often identify “taste” as an important factor when selecting alcoholic beverages. Although it is assumed that reduced alcohol consumption in PROP super-tasters is due to a greater dislike of the nominally aversive sensations that they experience more intensely (e.g., bitterness) when compared to PROP non-tasters, this question has not been specifically asked to them. Therefore, we examined consumers’ self-reported aversion towards specific sensory attributes (bitter, hot/burn, dry, sour, sweet, carbonation) for four alcoholic beverage types (white wine, red wine, beer, spirits) using a convenience sample of U.S. wine consumers (n = 925). Participants rated 18 statements describing different combinations of sensory attributes and alcoholic beverages on a 5-point Likert scale (e.g., Beer tastes too bitter for me). Individuals who tended to agree more strongly with the statements (i.e., they were more averse; p(F) < 0.05) tended to (i) consume less of all beverage types, (ii) consume a higher proportion of white wine (p(r) < 0.05), and (iii) were more likely to be female or PROP super-tasters. The results suggest that self-reported aversion to specific sensory attributes is associated with not only lower overall intake of alcoholic beverages, but also a shift in the relative proportions of beverage type consumed; a key finding for studies investigating how taste perception impacts alcohol consumption.

Wine consumers’ willingness (wine neophilia) or reluctance (wine neophobia) to try new wines represent, respectively, an opportunity or barrier for product innovation and market development in the wine industry. Here, we first sought to validate and optimize the Wine Neophobia Scale (WNS) in a large sample of 1269 Canadian wine consumers. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that a seven-item scale was optimal. This modified WNS (mWNS) was then used to investigate demographic and behavioral correlates of wine neophobia. Using lower and upper quartile values, 316 neophiles and 326 neophobes were identified. Wine neophiles and neophobes did not differ with respect to gender or age; however, neophobes had lower household income, education, and wine involvement, and reported consuming fewer wine styles than neophiles. Interestingly, while neophiles drank wine considerably more frequently than neophobes—a finding that is mediated by wine involvement—total annual wine intake did not differ between the groups. Importantly, the price typically paid per bottle of wine also varied with wine neophobia. We recommend adoption of the modified mWNS as a useful tool for more fully understanding the drivers of wine behavior and providing guidance to wine marketers.

Current strategies for decreasing the bitterness of conventional foods often involve the addition of sucrose and sodium chloride. However this has limited application with functional foods, as they are health promoting, and other approaches are required. This study assesses the efficacy of high and low concentrations of five bitter inhibiting compounds [β-cyclodextrin (β-CYCLO), homoeriodictyol sodium salt (HED), zinc sulphate monohydrate (ZnSO4), magnesium sulphate (MgSO4), carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt (CMC)] on the perceived bitterness of high and low concentrations of (+)-catechin and caffeine – two ingredients used in functional food formulations. Intensity ratings (bitterness, sourness, saltiness, sweetness, savoriness, astringency, ‘other’) of bitterant-bitter blocker binary solutions were collected from a panel of twelve, in duplicate, using a 15 cm line scale. Overall, β-CYCLO and HED were the most effective blockers at decreasing the bitterness of (+)-catechin, while the bitterness of caffeine was reduced most effectively by HED. Results also demonstrate that the bitter reducing capacity of these blockers is bitterant dependent. In general, these bitter blockers elicit minimum side tastes and sensations, although astringency and viscosity intensities are increased under some conditions. We conclude that some bitter blockers show considerable potential for decreasing the bitterness of phenols and caffeine in functional food formulations.

Alkylmethoxypyrazines (MPs) are a class of compounds that can elicit undesirable aroma and flavor characteristics in wine, and resist remediation using traditional wine making approaches. MPs are grape-derived constituents as well as contaminants from Coccinellidae beetles present during wine processing; the latter eliciting an off-flavor referred to as ‘ladybug taint’. In this study we investigated the capacity of two plastic polymers—one silicone-based, the other polylactic acid-based—applied with varying surface areas to reduce concentrations of isopropylmethoxypyrazine (IPMP), sec-butylmethoxypyrazine (SBMP) and isobutylmethoxypyrazine (IBMP) in a Merlot wine using multi-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry and headspace solid phase microextraction (SPME-MDGCMS). The impact of treatments on the sensory characteristics of the wine (descriptive analysis) and volatile aroma compounds (VOCs) (SPME-MDGCMS) was also investigated. Results showed substantial reductions for all of the target odorants: up to 38%, 44% and 39% for IPMP, SBMP and IBMP, respectively, for the silicone polymer, and up to 75%, 78% and 77% for IPMP, SBMP and IBMP, respectively, for the polylactic acid polymer. These polymers had no or minimal effect on VOCs at applications of 200 cm2/L for silicone or for all polylactic acid treatments. Sensory impacts were less clear, but generally showed minimal effect from the treatments. Taken overall, the data confirm the utility of both polylactic acid and silicone polymers in reducing elevated levels of grape-derived MPs, as well as potentially improving wine contaminated by ladybug taint.

The relationship between power dynamics and decision making in natural resource management is central to explaining governance outcomes. Contemporary catchment governance is increasingly characterized by the interaction of multiple stakeholder groups, which has shifted processes like collaboration and social learning into the focus of water governance research and related fields. Because collaboration and social learning are effective tools for resilience building through, for example, strengthening social capital and network relationships, there is need to better understand how power dynamics influence processes of collaboration and learning and consequential decision making. A three-dimensional power theory was applied to elucidate how instrumental, structural, and discursive power dynamics shape collaboration and social learning in catchment governance, and their effects on governance outcomes. The development process of the Lockyer Valley Catchment Action Plan (Australia) in 2015–2016 was used as a case study. Twenty-five interviews with three diverse stakeholders were conducted and thematically analyzed to extract power evidence from this example of a real-world multi-stakeholder governance process. We identified three main hubs of power, namely: (1) power of facilitation; (2) power of trust; and (3) power of politics. These hubs were characterized by a multitude of strongly interlinked instrumental, structural, and discursive power dynamics. Understanding these hubs of power allow the identification of intervention points to strengthen water governance effectiveness in times of water crisis.

The current climate crisis necessitates effective mitigation action across all scales, including behaviours and lifestyle decisions at the individual level. Youth need to align lifestyle with the 2.1 tonnes of CO _2 emissions per person per year required by 2050 to prevent the worse impacts of climate change (CC), yet little is known regarding their preparedness to act nor knowledge of the efficacy of the personal actions available to them. The main objectives of this study were to determine in a representative sample of 17–18 year old Canadians ( n = 487) their: (1) beliefs around whether their activities or lifestyle choices can help to lessen CC, and (2) knowledge of the efficacy of individual-level behaviours in reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GGE). Results from the online survey (Likert scale) show that youth have limited confidence in how well their schooling has prepared them for CC and mitigation. However, the majority (88%) believe that their activities and lifestyle choices can help in mitigating CC. Knowledge of the relative efficacy of GGE-reducing actions was generally poor (Wilcoxon signed rank tests and open-ended responses) with, for instance, recycling overestimated and having one fewer child underestimated, suggesting that youth are not well equipped with the requisite knowledge to maximise CC mitigation through their personal choices. Our findings inform high school curricula and CC education and policy more broadly.