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Despite the lack of consensus regarding the effects of different soils on wine flavour, the simplification of terroir to soil type has become increasingly common in wine marketing, particularly for German Riesling. To examine the effects of this strategy on sensory perception, twenty German Rieslings from four commonly marketed soil types (Buntsandstein, Löß, Muschelkalk, and Schiefer) were evaluated for aroma, taste, and mouthfeel attributes (rate-all-that-apply) by a panel of twenty wine experts, first without and then with each wine’s soil type given as an extrinsic informational cue. While ratings from the uninformed tastings suggest baseline differences among Rieslings from the various soils, the provision of soil type cues resulted in more extensive discrimination, particularly in terms of attributes related to minerality (earthy, chalky, marine, flinty, and salty). Soil type-dependent changes in ratings suggest distinct a priori conceptions for each soil shaped the panel’s expectations and differentially altered their perception, though further work is needed to determine whether nonexpert consumers would be similarly biased by these cues. For wine soil typing to be a viable marketing strategy, a well-defined “image” of each soil would need to be communicated to consumers, to ensure their expectations are set to trigger perception of the desired sensory properties.

UV‑C treatment is a non-thermal technology that could be used for the microbiological stabilisation of must and wine. However, light - in this case UV‑C light - has an impact on wine. UV‑C is a high-energy light source and can promote photo-induced oxidation reactions. The formation of reactive oxygen species during the UV-C treatment of wine can be prevented via supplementation with antioxidants. These have the ability to neutralise reactive oxygen species or directly interact with the products of photo-induced oxidation reactions. This study investigates the impact of different UV‑C doses on the chemical and sensory characteristics of Chardonnay wine and examines the protective effect of two antioxidants: sulphur dioxide (SO2) and hydrolysable tannins. A sensory evaluation revealed that UV‑C doses higher than 1 kJ/l increased the colour intensity and the oxidised and burnt odour attributes of the wine. The peach odour attribute decreased with UV‑C treatment. On a chemical level, increasing UV‑C doses promoted the formation of compounds such as acetaldehyde and 2‑aminoacetophenone (2‑AAP), while causing the degradation of C13‑norisoprenoids, higher alcohols, monoterpenes and esters. Contrary to expectations, SO2 did not act as an antioxidant when wine was treated with UV-C. It intensified the burnt odour attribute and did not mitigate the intensity of the oxidised odour attribute, which can be explained by the formation of acetaldehyde. However, hydrolysable tannins acted as antioxidants when combined with UV‑C treatment, effectively mitigating the formation of 2‑AAP and acetaldehyde, while preventing the wine from becoming oxidised.