Use of Consumer Based Sensory Methodologies in the Wine Industry

Katerina Axelsson

Organization:

Tastry, California

Sessions:

Use of Consumer Based Sensory Methodologies in the Wine Industry

Katerina graduated high school in San Diego and graduated university in San Luis Obispo where she studied chemistry, biology, and data science. She paid her way through college working as a chemist in the local wine industry, where she witnessed the same wine, bottled under two different labels, receive drastically different industry scores from the same critics. Katerina hypothesized that sufficient understanding of the chemistry of the product, and the biological and cultural predispositions of consumers, could assist the entire industry from winemaker to distributor to retailer to better serve consumers, reduce waste and increase profitability. She explored her theories at her lab where she analyzed thousands of wine samples and developed a unique analytical chemistry methodology which was conducive to the association of analytes and characteristics to consumer preference. The amount of data was daunting, so she sought advice from the head of the master’s program for mathematics and data science at university. Development of novel and powerful machine learning followed, and they filed for patents to track and predict consumer preferences for sensory-based products in the U.S. and 54 countries. Today, Katerina leads Tastry- a vertically integrated SaaS company that has “taught a computer how to taste.”

Cristina de la Presa Owens

Organization:

Constellation Brands, California

Sessions:

Use of Consumer Based Sensory Methodologies in the Wine Industry

Cristina, a native of Barcelona, Spain, brings over twenty-five years of experience in the field of Sensory & Consumer Research in the wine industry. She currently is the Sensory Manager at Constellations Brands. Prior to joining Constellation Brands in March 2021, Cristina spent close to 9 years working at E. & J. Gallo as a Product & Winestyle Senior Manager and 13 years at Treasury Wine Estates as a Consumer Insights Senior Manager, Sensory. Areas of expertise encompass sensory evaluation, consumer research & product optimization. During her career she has participated in development and launch of several new products and line extensions.

Cristina has a degree in Pharmacy from the School of Pharmacy, University of Barcelona, an MA in Agricultural and Food Chemistry from the Instituto Químico de Sarria. Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain. Cristina has a Doctorate (PhD) in Pharmacy from the Dept. of Nutrition & Food Science. School of Pharmacy. University of Barcelona. She was a Doctoral and post-Doctoral sensory researcher at the Department of Viticulture & Enology University of California, Davis.

Julien Delarue

Organization:

University of California, Davis

Sessions:

Use of Consumer Based Sensory Methodologies in the Wine Industry

Dr. Delarue is Associate Professor at the University of California Davis in the department of Food Science and Technology. His research focuses on methods to measure sensory perception and preferences and on their effective use in food design. He explores the role of context in hedonic measures using immersive environments and digital technologies. He also works to develop and validate rapid and flexible descriptive analysis methods with application to new product development and consumer research. Using these methods, he seeks to understand the sensory determinants of food preferences and to finds levers to drive healthy and sustainable food behaviors.

Formerly a Professor at AgroParisTech, France in the food science and technology joint research unit with INRAE and Université Paris-Saclay, he has served as the Chair of the European Sensory Science Society (E3S).