How do flavors get in wine? Do wineries add them in?
Why Does Wine Taste Like More Than Grapes?
Today we wanted to address a very common question about wine. If wine is made from grapes, how does the cherry, plum, pepper or other flavors get in there?
The Role of Fermentation in Flavor
Winemaking actually involves organic chemistry. Alcohol is produced when grapes, which are full of natural sugars, are combined with yeast. During fermentation, yeast metabolizes grape sugars and produces not just alcohol and carbon dioxide, but also a variety of aromatic and flavor compounds that contribute to a wine’s complexity. Additionally, some natural compounds already present in the grapes become more pronounced. (In our winemaking, no synthetic chemicals are added, it is all a result of natural reactions.)
Where Flavor Compounds Come From
A wine's organic compounds can come from a variety of factors during fermentation or aging, including the grapes themselves (skin or juice), their seeds, their stems, or wood if it is aged in oak barrels. Aroma, taste, and texture are all affected by these compounds.
Why Wine Tastes Like Other Foods
What is fascinating, is that the reason you may smell or taste citrus in white wine for example, is because some of the compounds in white wine often match those found in lemon or orange. The reason you may taste vanilla in a wine that has fermented or aged in an oak barrel, is because the oak wood has imparted an organic compound known as vanillin which is also the main flavor component that exists naturally in vanilla beans. Taste bell pepper in your Cabernet? That’s from a compound called pyrazine that naturally exists in Cabernet grape skins and becomes more prominent in in cooler vintages…pyrazines are also found in bell pepper, jalapeño and even asparagus.
So while it may seem really odd and far fetched for wine critics to explain the flavors of wine with fanciful descriptions such as “tea leaf” and “rose petal” – the wine actually carries some of the same organic compounds that are found in other foods or plants.
Thanks for nerding out with us on this one today!
Cheers,
Sarah & Skye