## 2 Results and Discussion
### Influence of SCC Distillation on Wine Sensory Profiles  
Wines made from smoke-affected grapes often exhibit diminished fruit characters due to masking by smoky, ashy aromas and flavors [6; 7; 8; 9; 10; 11; 24]. However, despite having elevated concentrations of smoke taint markers compounds (Table 1), the wines sourced for this study retained fruit expression, with intensity ratings for smoke-related sensory attributes being considerably lower, i.e., 0.9-2.5/7, than ratings for fruit aroma and flavor, i.e., 3.6-4.0/7 (Table S2). Significant differences were perceived in the sensory profiles of ShS and PVS wines before and after SCC distillation (Figure 2, Table S2). The intensity of fruit aroma and flavor diminished, while the perception of smoke, cold ash and burnt rubber aromas, and smoky, medicinal and burnt rubber flavors intensified as a function of stripping. The characteristic ashy aftertaste often associated with smoke-tainted wines also became more apparent with SCC treatment. The loss of fruit expression can be attributed to the removal of desirable aroma volatiles, which occurs as an outcome of SCC distillation, in addition to dealcoholization [39]. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis confirmed the presence of fermentation volatiles (alcohols and esters) in each of the condensate fractions (Table S3); their lower boiling points (relative to volatile phenols) likely aided their removal during SCC distillation (Tables S1 and S2). The extraction of volatiles responsible for fruit aroma and flavor, together with concentration of free and glycosylated volatile phenols provides a plausible explanation for the perceived intensification of smoke taint following SCC treatment. The biplot generated from principal component analysis of sensory data (Figure 2) shows clear separation of wines along the x-axis according to the degree of stripping; with the first principal component accounting for 75.6% of the total variance. Untreated wines were positioned furthest to the left, reflecting predominant fruit expression, while stripped wines moved progressively to the right, due to the intensification of smoke taint sensory characters. Based on a preliminary bench-top testing trial, reduced aroma and flavor, oxidized aroma and flavor, and saltiness were included as attributes for evaluation during sensory analysis (Tables S2 and S4). Intensity ratings for reduced and oxidized characters were initially low at 0.78-1.70/7.0 for untreated wines, however, small but statistically significant increases in ratings were obtained following SCC distillation (Table S2); the exception being ratings for oxidized aroma in PVS samples, which were not significantly different (Table S2). Despite'reductive' and 'oxidative' being contrasting terms, the sensory panel perceived differences in the intensities of the descriptors represented by these terms. Nevertheless, it is unclear to what extent these changes truly reflect either reduction or oxidation arising from SCC distillation vs. the panel's perception of underlying characters being enhanced by the loss of fruit expression (due to the aforementioned removal of desirable aroma volatiles). The impact of SCC distillation on taste and mouthfeel attributes was more obvious (Figure 2, Table S2). The perception of acidity (sourness) and saltiness was clearly enhanced; not only due to the concentration of non-volatile organic acids and salts, but also the loss of ethanol, which has been shown to moderate acid perception [43; 44]. The removal of ethanol also accounts for the diminished perception of hotness. Small but significant decreases in bitterness, and drying and astringent characters were perceived following SCC distillation of the PVS wine, despite the likely concentration of (non-volatile) phenolic compounds [33], and observed increased in total phenolics (Table 1).