New Insights into Wine Color Analysis: A Comparison of Analytical Methods to Sensory Perception for Red and White Varietal Wines

The Glories method and CIE L*a*b* color space are poorly correlated in the light red high-saturation color area. Non-uniformities in the CIE L*a*b* color space have led to the CIEDE2000 formula, while the Euclidean color distance is still used in wine research. In this study, 112 white and red wines were examined to compare the Glories method, CIE L*a*b, and human perception using monovarietal wines from different grape varieties. The objective of this study was to investigate which of the two methods and which parameter of each method better aligned with human perception. The visual color threshold was re-evaluated with the CIEDE2000 formula and triangle testing. CIE L*a*b* more closely matched the human perception, elevating the use of CIE L*a*b* over the use of the Glories method. Visual color thresholds were better expressed with CIEDE2000 but still varied depending upon the color area in the CIE L*a*b* color space.