Below is an overview of some of the aromas you’ll encounter in wines. When tasting wine, it’s nice to be able to describe what you taste and smell. The terms are described in detail for wine enthusiasts who want to learn more.
Aromas in white wines
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Lemon
Lemon extract is obtained by pressing or distilling the fresh peel of Citrus temonum. It contains limonene, citronella and citral. A pressed extract contains about 2% citral, which is largely responsible for the typical lemon scent. Citric acid may be present in very small doses in wine, but has no odor properties. Although lemon is often forgotten in wine aroma analysis, it can still be detected in the bouquet, especially in white wines. It contributes to the freshness, elegance and finesse of the nose. The lemon aroma develops in most Sauvignons and Chardonnays. It is a constant of the Champagnes. In Sauternes, it blends harmoniously with honey and exotic fruit.
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Grapefruit/grapefruit
As we consume it, it is actually a hybrid between the true grapefruit and orange, very juicy and a bit bitter. This note is rarely mentioned by tasters and yet it is easily recognized in excellent fresh white wines.
Its characteristic aroma comes from the molecule: nut katone, found both in the peel and in the juice.
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Pineapple
In dietetics, the consumption of pineapple is highly recommended after banquet meals or tastings. This is because it has fat-dissolving properties and is very high in fiber. Ethyl butyrate and isoamyl butyrate, two substances that may be present in some wines, are esters whose smell is reminiscent of that of pineapple. One finds both substances mostly in young white wines. It is mainly an odor of white liqueur wines. The fungus botrytis cinerea is the cause and is very pronounced in wines based on the Sémilllon grape.
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Lychee
Under the peel we find a white, pearly fruit with a delicate, sweet and perfumed flavor. The seed is shiny and easily removed.
We find the lychee aroma in ripe wines. The aroma is close to fresh figs and notes of the terpene range (also typical of the floral and fruity notes of fresh grapes). It is said to be a typical aroma of Gewurztraminer.
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Muscat
Muscat has linalol as its main chemical odor reference. Linalol which has low stability exists in its free state in several essential oils: lavender, elderflower, Cayenne rosewood, lemon herb and coriander. It is a colorless liquid with a sweet, delightful odor. It is one of the main aromatic constituents of all types of Muscat wines, but one sometimes encounters the aroma in Sauvignon as well.
Those wines come from different grape varieties: Muscat blanc; Muscat rose with small berries (Muscat de Frontignan), Muscadelle, which in the Southwest, because of its very pronounced aroma, is mixed only in small quantities with Sémillon and Sauvignon; or also the Aleatico, an Italian grape variety of the same family, which gives a red, usually sweet wine with a very pronounced muscat aroma and taste. When tasting these wines, one gets the same impression as when biting into a fresh Muscat grape.
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Pear
The pear tree is originally a European tree that was already cultivated in ancient times: Pliny mentions 38 varieties, but today one counts more than 1500. Esters such as butyl acetate, hexyl acetate, ethyl pelargonate, are part of the pear bouquet found in some wines. It harmonizes very well with vanilla in white liqueur wines, especially Loire wines. Jules Chauvet mentions this aroma in wines based on the Chardonnay grape. And André Vedel wonders if the Porêts vineyard in Nuits-Saint-Georges, "does not owe its name to its original taste of wild pears."
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Hawthorn
The hawthorn, also called "hawthorn," is a shrub with spines, widely used for hedges. It belongs to the apple-like family, like the quince tree, the pear tree and the apple tree. Its spray flowers have a very fine intense fragrance in early spring. It is the anise aldehyde that underlies this type of perfume. The aroma is also reminiscent of bitter almonds. It is the anise-like note, often mentioned in Chardonnay wine, especially in Chablis.
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Honey
The aroma, often associated with floral or ripe fruit scents, is a combination of floral and waxy notes. The chemical fragrance reference for the floral key is phenylethyl aldehyde. The honey aroma brilliantly graces great white wines as they age. It is present to a great extent in the sweet wines of Sauternes, Barsac, Monbazillac and Bergerac, as in the Quart-de-Chaume, as well as in Montrachet, the various cru's of Meursault and the white Corton, when fairly fat.
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Cassis buds
When you rub the buds of a cassis plant between your fingers, a beautiful scent emerges, somewhat reminiscent of boxwood and valerian. The chemical reference is mercapto-4-methyl-4-pentanone-2. This molecule is also found in typical Sauvignon. This aroma has also been found in boxwood and broom. A related molecule is present in cat piss, an odor we sometimes observe near boxwood. Grapes harvested too green may well release this odor strongly.
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Butter
Butter has diacetyl (CH3 CO CO CH3) as a chemical odor reference. Traces of this substance are also found in the essential oils fin Angelica root, clove, cypress, sandalwood, caraway and vetiver root. One can detect the aroma in the wine during or at the end of malo-lactic fermentation. It disappears with aging. In great white bourgognes, the aroma often accompanies nut, almond and toasted bread aromas.
This aroma is found in the great white wines from Chassagne-Montrachet.
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Toasted bread
The aroma owes its finesse and its strength to the union of fragrant grains (bran) and the typical smell of toasting. It blends perfectly with the smell of butter in the great Chardonnays of Burgundy. No chemical component has yet been identified that would be responsible for the typical aroma. The belief that it is present in the wine is shared by many tasters. Chardonnays aged in new oak barrels give a compound grilled aroma with a toasted bread component.
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Hazelnut
When tasting wine, the aroma of hazelnut is often associated with that of toasted almonds and butter. This is because, like hazelnut, they both have diacetyl as their basic chemical constituent. One often finds the aroma in white Burgundy wines based on Chardonnay. It is an aroma that contributes to the beauty of Meursault. The hazelnut aroma is notable for its pairing with that of resin. In Jura, a delicate hazelnut note comes after the nutty taste so characteristic of Château-Chalon. One should not be surprised that this aroma is also found in foreign wines such as Amontillado, if one knows that it is related to sherry and Château-Chalon, two wines that both develop under a thick layer of yeast called "flor". And to conclude this list of examples, we mention the charming white wines from Crozes-Hermitage, which are particularly appreciated for their liveliness and for their delicate hazelnut aroma, and also the wines from Saint-Péray.
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Orange
The main component of the aroma is limonene, which we find in all citrus fruits. The aroma develops in white liqueur wines, such as Sauternes. It is expressed only after longer storage time in the bottle (more than 10 years). Surprisingly, it is also sometimes found in Australian liqueur wines.
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Banana
The smell of ripe banana is very typical and easy to detect. The chemical odor reference is iso-amyl acetate. It occurs mainly in primeur wines, both red and white. Low-temperature fermentation and carbonic acid maceration favor the formation of this odor. The odor also occurs with ordinary fermentation, but fades quickly with aging. Beaujolais is a typical example.
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Melon
The chemical component cis-non-6-enol is characteristic of its odor. It is mainly found in Australian Chardonnay and Austrian liqueur wines (Trockenbeerenauslese).
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Apple
Apples come in a wide variety. The molecules responsible for the typical apple smell are : ethyl hexanoate and ethyl-3-methyl butanoate. Apple is often in the basic character of many white wines. It should not be too pronounced, because then it becomes a defect: bitter apple. Fragrance of Golden Delicious occurs in most Chardonnay. In the more mature wines, the fragrance tends more toward Golden Delicious.
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Rose
The best rose aroma, of course, comes from rose petals. But it takes tons of rose petals to obtain a kilo of pure aroma. So chemists have also been looking for the typical molecules here, which are mainly responsible for the aroma. They are 2-phenylethanol, geraniol and beta-citronellol. In red wines, we find the aroma in very old grand-cru's. In white wines it can be very powerful and is therefore easily recognized. This is the case in Alsatian and Austrian Gewürtztraminer.
Aromas in red wines
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Strawberry
In wine, we distinguish two nuances of strawberry: that of freshly picked fruit, commonly found in rosé and young wines. The chemical component ethyl hexanoate underlies this scent. The other is that of very ripe berries, of strawberry jam and is a warmer smell and more common. The component furaneol is the basis of the aroma. Strawberry is a noble aroma present in Banyuls wines and in port, but also in classic, smooth old wines. One also finds the aroma of that fruit in the wines of the Côte de Nuits, in the Morey Saint-Denis, the aroma of strawberry is also often found in the wines from Tavel and Lirac.
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Raspberry
Chemical components of the aroma are: frambinone, for the fruit and in the wine: alpha-ionone and beta-ionone. It is an easily recognizable aroma and is common in red wines of various grape varieties, usually in perfect balance with cassis. Very characteristic of the Pinot Noir. In Bordeaux wines a distinct character of the Cabernet Franc. The Syrah in the Cote-Rótie and the Mondeuse in Savoie are two grape varieties that produce wines in which raspberry and violet combine. In the United States, the Zinfandel grape has the same aromatic characteristic.
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Blackcurrant
The blackcurrant is widely known, with its aromatic leaves and jet black berries. In wine tasting, it is a classic, sign of ripeness and natural grape concentrate.
Within the group of small red fruit aromas, one can distinguish the aroma of strawberry, raspberry and red currant, due to its warm and fruity aroma. It is also important to distinguish between the aroma of the fruit and the young buds of the plant.
The black currant "is constantly found in red Burgundy wines, and in all wines based on Pinot-noir on calcareous soils. It is an intense but very stable aroma that remains present for years. There is undoubtedly a close and natural link between the cultivation of this fruit that is highly prized in the liqueur industry and the presence of its aroma in the great Burgundy wines. In Bordeaux, we find the aroma in the Cabernet-Sauvignon. -
Blackberry
The blackberry is the rustic version of the raspberry and widely known, especially for its persistent thorns. Its beautiful aroma lies between that of black currant and raspberry. It is spicier, almost animal-like. Characteristic of Syrah. Its aroma goes well with fresh oak.
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Cherry
The many varieties of cherries ultimately go back to two species: the Prunus aviurn, wild cherry tree, produces sweet somewhat bitter cherries, and the Prunus cerasus or true cherry tree, produces fruit with a sour taste. This family includes the morel, bigarreau, among others. Cherry is a big and noble aroma, very rare in young red wines. The aroma develops a year after bottling, never dominant, but always expansive.
The aroma of morel (in French: griotte) is so strong in the Chambertin area that one of its vineyards bears the name Griottes-Chambertin. Typical of the deep red Bourgognes, combined with cassis and raspberries in the Côtes de Nuits.
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Pansy
The pansy, which grows spontaneously as a grassy plant in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, is grown as Viola odorata variety not only as an ornamental flower, but also for the perfume industry and for confectionery. All violet perfumes have alpha-ionone as a base, a constituent that was also often found in wine. The smell of violets, powerful and precious, is one of the most easily perceived and recognizable floral scents. It is one of the most beautiful scents of red wines.
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Green bell pepper
The chemical odor reference is the 2-metoxy-3- isobutyl-pyrazine. Already at very low concentrations of this substance, its smell in the wine is very noticeable. This very characteristic aroma is a constant in Cabernet grape varieties. It is therefore very often found in Bordeaux and Loire wines (especially young ones).
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Truffle
Of this typical fungus, which lives in symbiosis mainly with oak, two species are particularly appreciated: the white truffle, found in Piedmont (which has a very different, more garlic-like aroma) and the famous black truffle of the Périgord. The description "Périgord" is only a botanical designation, as the black truffle is also found elsewhere (including Umbria, Italy). Nevertheless, truffles from the Périgord area have a more pronounced smell and taste. Several sulfurous components have been found in the truffle, including sulfur-di-methyl (characteristic of the aroma). One also finds this component in some wines. In any case, this aroma is strongly present in great Bordeaux wines, just as the blackcurrant aroma is dominant in Burgundies. It can be attributed to a subsoil rich in iron slag. It gives an aroma to some Médoc 's and the wines of Saint-Emilion; it is obviously present in the Pomerol's and one also finds it in wines coming from areas with important truffle production (the wines from Cahors and the Lot Valley).
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Liquorice
Liquorice is a leguminous plant (Glycyrrhiza glabra) native to southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. The rhizome (which is dried and used both as a delicacy and in medicine) from which one extracts contains a sweet substance: glycyrrhizin. The tannins of various grape varieties (Merlot, Cabernet-Sauvignon and Pinot, among others) blend perfectly with those of the wooden barrels to develop the licorice aroma together. This aroma is often noted in the rich range of aromas in great Bordeaux wines, Côtes du Rhone and Bourgognes.
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Vanilla
The odorant vanillin or ethyl vanillin is the basic scent of the complex vanilla fragrance. The vanilla aroma is found in abundance in all white and red wines that have been aged in oak barrels. This is obvious knowing that one of the aromatic substances present in oak is ethylvanillin, a derivative of the vanilla aromatic substance. This chemical goes remarkably well with most wines and will eventually be integrated into the bouquet. The aroma of vanilla is so pronounced in a number of wines that most novice tasters overlook it and forget to mention it. However, the aroma can also be found in wines that have never been in contact with wood.
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Pepper
Pepper extract is obtained by distillation of the ripe fruit of the Piper nigrum, a shrub native to the Indian archipelago. This extract contains phelandrene and dipentene. The smell of pepper can occur naturally in some wines. It is a difficult aroma to detect because it is not accompanied by the spicy taste, which is well known. Also, this smell, reminiscent of metal, quickly becomes sultry when it merges with fruity aromas. The aroma can appear in the wine either as a characteristic of a particular vintage, as a property of a particular grape variety or as a character of the soil. As a refined aroma, it is often present in Syrah or Cabernet wines.
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Smoked
The description "smoked" refers to a type of aroma that is analogous to that of smoked foods. Polyphenols play an important role in this aroma. Upon tasting, this characteristic aroma is encountered in white and red wines. The occurrence of the aroma can sometimes be confirmed by breathing in the air of an emptied glass. The appearance is often associated with the ground. The aroma is sometimes mistaken for the bitter smell of over-roasted oak barrels.
