Where does wine get its flavour from?
Wine is made of grapes and like most fruits the grape has a specific set of flavours. But in wine making there are a whole host of other things which contribute to the flavour of the finished wine. We tend to think about these in three categories: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary flavours. Don’t worry, we’ll unpack that a little below. But the key idea to grasp here is that it is not just the grape that gives flavour to the wine. However, let’s start there and explore the impact of grapes on a wine’s flavour.
I mentioned above that we think of flavours as Primary, Secondary or Tertiary. The flavour which a grape adds are all primary flavours. These flavours the grape adds are a consequence of the ingredients contained in it which we explored in the first part of this series. One way to think about these is in specific categories of flavour. The first one is probably the one which we would expect the most – fruit. Some wines taste of grape, but quite often the flavour are also similar to those we might find in other fruits. Some common fruit flavours are apple, pear or lemon in a white wine; and or red fruits and berries in red wine.
Alongside the fruit flavours, we can get a whole host of other, usually more subtle flavours. In some wines, we might taste dried fruit or flavours which are similar to cooked fruit or jammy fruit (literally the fruit you would find in jam/jelly). The next two groups are easy to confuse, but are slightly different – they are flavours which are herbaceous and flavours which are herbal. Herbacious flavours are things such as flavours similar to green peppers, grass, plant leaves, asparagus and generally the green parts of things that grow. Herbal flavours include things like mint, lavendar, fennel and eucalyptus.
Similar to herbal flavours, we can also sometimes pick up smells or tastes which are similar to floral aromas. A very common floral smell would be something like blossom or elderflower in white wine; and sometimes we can smell things like lilac or violet in red wines. The last two groups of flavours are spices and everything else. Spices include things like black or white pepper, liquorice and cinnamon. And other primary flavours include things like flint, and smells that are similar to the smell of wet stones and wet wool.
The flavours in a grape are largely a result of the variety, the growing conditions and in some case the way the grapes are collected. Certain grape varieties have very clear characteristics. If I was to say Sauvignon blanc most people would be able to recall the sharp fresh flavour of that particular variety. Some varieties are what we describe as being aromatic, meaning they have more pronounced flavours and aromas. Non-aromatic varieties tend to be more subtle. Popular aromatic varieties you may have encountered are things like Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Albariño and Gewürztraminer, but there are others. We tend to think of aromatic wines being white wines, but there are arguably some red wines as well in particular pinot noir.
But of course there are other factors which influence the flavours in a grape. How ripe it is, for example, will impact on the amount of sugar which has accumulated. Being really specific, which particular clone of variety is used will give it a slightly different flavour profile. The overall impact of the terroir (location, soil, climate, and growing conditions) can also influence the flavours – chardonnay grape grown on the south coast of England is likely to taste quite different to one grown in Napa valley in California.
And finally the way the grape is harvested may have some impact on its flavour. Certain grapes are harvested in bunches and therefore still have their stems in tact. Stems tend to add tannins (bitter astringent flavours) to a wine, and if the stems have not fully ripened may add some of that herbacious flavour (think green peppers).
In relation to secondary flavours, we can think of these broadly as flavours which are introduced during the wine making process, rather than from the grape. Probably the most well known of these is going to be the flavours which are added to wine by oak. Oak barrels and other vessels can be used in multiple stages of the winemaking process and tend to add flavours such as vanilla, coconut, toast, smoke and even chocolate to a wine. The type of flavour will depend on the size and age of the vessel used, how much toast (literally how much it was ‘burnt’) it received when it was made, the geographical original of the wood and how long the wine was in contact with it. Some people really dislike the characteristics that oak adds to a wine, others like really oaky flavours.
Two other secondary flavours which a wine may have are flavours introduced by yeast and bacteria. Once fermentation has completed the winemaker has a choice what then happens to the finished wine. In the case of the aromatic varieties above, in most cases it is immediately drained, processed and bottled; however, another option is to allow the wine to remain in contact with the dead yeast cells (known as resting on its lees). When we think about yeast it probably isn’t a significant surprise to learn that lees can add bready, toasty notes, or notes of biscuit or pastry to a wine. The other option a winemaker has is to allow natural bacteria in the wine to interact with it to convert some of the harsh acids to softer acids giving it a smoother flavour. This is known as Malolactic conversion (because the bacteria convert malic acid to lactic acid).
So finally we come to Tertiary flavours. Broadly these are flavours that come from aging a wine. Firstly, let’s dis-spell a myth – not all wine gets better wine age. In fact, most of the wine that we can buy, is actually being sold at the point where should drunk relatively soon after purchase. However, some wines can be aged. Aging adds three types of flavours. Firstly, some processes of aging allow the wine to have a small amount of contact with oxygen. This contact can lead to flavours such as marzipan, coffee, toffee and caramel among others. While a lot of contact with oxygen will ruin a wine, a small amount can actually improve it.
As a wine ages the fruit flavours also develop. Typically the freshness of the fruit will subside, allowing dried fruit flavours to develop such as dried apricot, marmalade, cooked red and black fruits and even tar. In addition, as wine ages in the bottle it will also develop more complex flavours as small chemical reactions occur between the various components of the wine over time. These flavours can include things such as honey, ginger, toast, nuttiness, mushroom, game, tobacco and something which smells / tastes like wet leaves. These reactions in the bottle can also cause a sediment to develop as components bind together, so its worth watching out for that towards the bottom of a bottle of good quality aged wine.
So, as we have discovered, the flavours in wine come not only from the fruit, but also how the wine has been made and the aging process it has been through. Hopefully next time you open a bottle you will be able to identify some of the flavours/aromas above and now know where they came from! In the meantime, keep exploring this beautiful planet we live on, one glass at a time!