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76 WINES&VINES October 2017 WINEMAKING WINE EAST T he word Typicity is guaranteed to start animated discussion among sommeliers, wine educators and beverage directors alike. It is com- monly used as a positive attribute when discussing varietal or re- gional wines, but it's difficult to reach a consensus over how typicity is defined or achieved. Is typic- ity reflective of that other troublesome wine word, terroir? Differences exist between a Ries- ling produced in the Finger Lakes (FLX) AVA and one produced in Alsace, but what these differ- ences are and who is qualified to evaluate them seems to change each time the question is posed. While typicity and terroir are important concepts in wine quality, they have been hotly debated and poorly defined since the beginning of wine evaluation. The French designation Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée guarantees the quality of wine produced in a specific region, with sensory and chemical markers reflecting its geographical environment. This AOC des- ignation, along with winemaking practices, are believed to generate a product that is typical, or representative, of its terroir. 1 Though there has been a recent shift in the sensory community to make wine evaluation more objective, variations in wine-production methods, vineyard conditions and wine evalu- ators produce mixed results in studies seeking to tie aspects of terroir with typicity. In a 2009 study, Lucie Perrin and Jerome Pagès con- cluded that appellation alone was not sufficient to determine the sensory attributes of a wine from a specific appellation, due to high vari- ability between wines of the same region. When Perrin and Pagès took these wines and compared them on the global scale, however, using the Napping method, the results were closely correlated with appellation. 2 Studies in Burgundy headed by Le Fur 3 and Ballester 4 reframed the contrast of wine origin and wine typicity by comparing product space (e.g., Chardonnay wines from Burgundy) with sensory space (i.e., wines that experts felt typi- fied Burgundian Chardonnays). With these two examples, sensory space and product space have a lot of overlap but are not identical. In Le Fur's experiment, for example, Burgundian Chenin Blanc and Melon de Bourgogne were often ranked as "very typical" of Burgundian Chardonnay, and shared sensory space but not product space. Such overlap is expected in any exploration of regional wine typicity and can be used to help define expert and consumer perceptions of "typical" wines. In the Finger Lakes region of New York, Riesling is unquestionably king, and regional experts of all sorts—producers, retailers and die-hard local fans—all can tell you what a "typical" FLX Riesling is. Dry, with notes of apricot and lime zest? Semi-sweet, with lus- cious fruit? There's not necessarily agreement among local experts, which is problematic when the industry poised to send a flagship product out into the global market. Typicity is generally defined by groups of experts who come to agreement over years of tasting. If the local experts don't do it, typicity will be imposed by writers, sommeliers and taste- makers from the broader wine world. This raises several questions: Can an emerging wine region shape public notion of their own typicity? Should they? And do "experts" even experience wine the same way that their regular customers do? Sensory evaluation study at Cornell To understand the regional typicity of FLX Ries- lings better, and to determine whether wine- makers and consumers perceive FLX Rieslings the same way, the Cornell Enology Extension Lab devised a multi-stage sensory evaluation using wine experts, producers and consumers Regional Typicity of Cool-Climate Rieslings How does this cultivar from the Finger Lakes compare in the world? By Demetra M. Perry and Anna Katharine Mansfield KEY POINTS New York's Finger Lakes region is well-known for its Rieslings, but what is the "typicity" of Rieslings from that region? Does an emerging wine region such as the Finger Lakes have a defined typicity for their Rieslings, and do consumers and wine- makers experience those wines the same way? How do the Finger Lakes Rieslings compare with the Riesling styles in Washington state and Alsace or the Rheingau and Pfalz regions in Germany? Researchers at the Cornell Enology Extension Lab- oratory conducted a multi-faceted study using consumers, wine producers and wine experts in a series of modified typicity trials, descriptive analy- sis and a projective mapping exercise. Their goals were to define the typicity of Finger Lakes Rieslings, to compare those Rieslings with the Riesling styles in Washington, Alsace and Germany, and to see if the evaluation of typicity varied between consumers and experts. RIESLING TYPICITY RATINGS Rieslings from five wine regions were evaluated for typicity, with the "most typical" examples of Riesling in each region selected for further sensory evaluation. Mean typicity ratings for selected wines, and their stan- dard deviation, are shown. Alsace Rheingau Pfalz Washington Finger Lakes Typicity Rating 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 "Very Bad Example" "Very Good Example" Wine Region