Let’s understand wine aromas through the science behind them. As it turns out, those little whiffs of fruit, flowers, and “minerality” help us deconstruct a wine.
Behind those countless flavors we sniff is a molecule. It enters your nose, impacts your olfactory receptors, and generates a signal to your brain which tells us things like, “I’m smelling strawberry!”
These molecules are tiny clusters of carbon atoms generated during grape ripening, alcoholic and malolactic fermentation, and wine aging. We can split aromas into 3 types:
- Varietal Aromas: Smells associated with the wine variety or blend of varieties.
- Fermentation Aromas: Flavors associated with microbial respiration (e.g. yeast eating sugars and “off-gassing” aromas)
- Aging Bouquets: Aromas derived from the breakdown of chemical compounds with time, temperature, and oxygen.
By the way, enologist and researcher Dr. Luigi Moio gives an exciting and clear explanation of the origin of the wine aromas in his book “The Breath of Wine” (Il respiro del vino). I’ve referenced it for this article.
