Where do the aromas of wine come from ?

Have you ever wondered where come from the different aromas of wine, which are always made from grapes ? Beaux-Vins explains everything !

I often talk about the aromas of wine, but you've probably already wondered how the same variety can develop multiple flavours. A red wine can have strawberry aromas, leather, or liquorice. Here we will see the reasons for this variety of possible aromas.

First of all, we're going to avoid getting me wrong, this variety of flavours is not due to artificial aromas — it would be too easy —. If a wine from the Chardonnay grape variety develops citrus aromas, honey or pear, it is not because of the addition of these aromas in the wine. The reason is much simpler, they are naturally present aromas for this grape variety. We call those aromas : primary or varietals.

Each variety has specific primary aromas and it is partly because of this that tasters can recognize one wine from another and say where it comes from. You can bet your life on it when you find aromas of lychee and rose petals, because they are characteristic of the Gewurztraminer grape variety.

Producing wine is not just about putting grape juice in a vat and waiting, it's a real science close to alchemy.

The aromas we have fun finding in our memory — this wine reminds me of the strawberry jam my grandma made — are so-called volatile compounds that come from natural aromatic molecules. Without going into detail — because I'm going to lose you all otherwise —, some simple aromas will come from a single volatile compound while others come from a multitude of volatile compounds. Still today, researchers are trying to discover the origin of certain aromas. Wine has more than 1,500 compounds, volatile or not.

To go further on the subject: INRA « When wine thirsts for research ".

When tasting a wine, we seek to make analogies between the smell of wine and what that smell evokes. Just because the wine has strawberry aromas doesn't really mean there are strawberries in it — I'm sure you guessed it —, but because there are compounds with a molecular structure similar to that present in the strawberry and called furanéol.

One could therefore discover the aromas of a wine simply by analyzing its composition — but it would be long and much less funny —. We use analogies through our memory of the smells we have already encountered in our lives. Even if this is confusing for novices, it is quite normal to find several aromas in the same wine.

— We have already discussed it above, but it's always good to twist the knife in the wound ! — Primary flavours are closely linked to the grape variety. The grape cluster — pulp, skin, stalk, and so on. — contains organic compounds that can be distinguished into two broad categories.

Aroma precursors are as the name suggests non-odorous. Simple flavoured grape varieties such as Gamay or Chardonnay have only precursors of flavours. It is the use of yeasts during winemaking that will transform them and make them aromatic.

Must is unfermented grape juice made from juice, of pulp, skins, seeds and a proportion of stalks decided by the winemaker. Yeasts and bacteria will feed on nutrients in the must, sugar and amino acids, that they turn into alcohol.

This activity will result in the creation of additional aromas. These fermentary aromas are particularly sought after and typical for premium wines. The best known of these is the amylic aroma, recalling English sweets and bananas — no surprise when you find a banana taste in Beaujolais Nouveau —.

Many factors influence the development of these aromas : the type of yeast used, the fermentation temperature that will affect the type of alcohol produced and therefore the aromas or oxygenation more or less important.

You get the point, the bouquet of wine is the result of many parameters on which the winemaker can play or not. Terroir, grapes, maturity, winemaking in its way of growing will change the must of the grapes into a unique product compared to other wines.