At the first sip of wine, it tastes like, well, wine. However, experts can note hundreds of different wine flavor notes in a single glass. But, how is that even possible? Wine has a variety of compounds that give unique flavors and aromas. In short, this happens due to chemistry, plain and simple. The way we describe these flavors is more like an art than science. So, for winemakers, art and science collide!

Wine flavor notes offer a shared vocabulary for wine lovers to describe what they smell and taste. To better communicate what you smell and taste and understand tasting notes listed on a wine bottle it’s helpful to get better acquainted with common wine flavor notes.

Let’s get down to the basics. Wine flavor notes refer to taste or smell or sometimes both. For example, a wine that has notes of green apple has both a sharp acidity, referring to the taste, and light fruit flavors, which refers to a scent.

Our sense of taste has only five sensations: salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami. Our sense of smell fills in the rest. Your tastebuds will actually differentiate between types of sour tastes. Sour taste can come from acidity but, they don’t all taste the same. Malic acid will have a tart taste and lactic acidic has a creamy taste.

Here’s a fun fact about the senses: smell occurs in both the nose and the mouth. The scientific name for smelling through the nose is “orthonasal olfaction” and “retronasal olfaction” is the scientific name for smelling inside your mouth.

Where Do Wine Flavors Come From?

Some flavors from wine come from grapes, others come together in the winemaking process and more flavors will occur later during the aging process of wine. There are primary, secondary, and tertiary aromas. Primary aromas come directly from the grapes used to make wine and have fruity, herbal, and floral notes, as well as earthy and spice notes. Secondary aromas come from different stages of the winemaking process. Finally, tertiary aromas come from the aging process. Some aromas will indicate the wine was aged in oak barrels while others indicate they were aged in bottles.

There you have it: the basics of wine flavor notes. Stay tuned for another blog where I’ll walk you through common wine flavor notes.

Cheers,
Natalie