Where do wine aromas come from?
When you read tasting notes with aromas of lavender or struck raspberry, you might wonder where they come from. With the Hungarian cabernet franc, I spoke about green bell pepper - an aroma sometimes associated with the grape or carménère.
That green bell pepper aroma comes from an flavour compound called Pyrazine. Pyrazine can also give off aromas of grass or elderflower, and is one or the major flavour compounds in coffee and chocolate. If you’re smelling black pepper, thyme or marjoram, it’ll be from a compound called Rotundone.
The wine aromas all exist because of flavour compounds that have aromas of other things. The compounds have good and bad characteristics and are affected by all the other winegrowing factors like climate and weather.