If wine is made from just grapes how come some people can taste different fruits like cherry, pear or passion fruit? You often hear descriptions like butter, vanilla, clove and even bacon. So where do these flavors come from and what are the most common in wine?
Let’s break down aromas in wine and classify some familiar grape varieties so you can explore wine through fruit aromas.
If you ever have a chance to taste a fresh Chardonnay grape you’ll see how wildly different it is than Chardonnay wine. A Chardonnay grape tastes very different than the apple, lemon and butter flavors associated with Chardonnay wine.
Why are grapes different than wine? This is because all the aroma compounds —stereoisomers as scientists call them— are released by the fermentation as well as the alochol in wine. Alcohol is volatile (i.e. it is a gas at room temperature) and it carries these lighter-than-air aroma compounds into your nose. Every wine has many different aroma compounds. Each compound can affect the flavor of another or the overall flavor of a wine. This is why some Chardonnays taste different than others. Also, our brains can think of multiple answers to one stereoisomer (crazy, right!?). For example, the lychee fruit flavor in Gewürztraminer can also smell like roses.
