The wine industry which is often portrayed as a drink for snob is further complicated by all the dos and don’ts, rules and regulations, tongue twisting foreign terms, colour chart, aroma wheel and what not. However the reality is that wine can be as simple as any other alcoholic beverage.
Reading a wine description like, “subtle smells of green pepper, dark chocolate with floral hint” can look tasking to some and confusing to others. It is a known fact that wine is made from grapes, so why does it smell like everything else but grapes. It’s not because the grapes or the wine has had some physical connection to any of these things but because there are certain chemical compounds that are present in the wine are similar to the compounds that make bell peppers.
Primarily the wine flavours and taste are developed during fermentation. When grape is fermented it produces alcohol, carbon dioxide and over 200 aromatic esters. Esters produced in wine are extensively used in flavour industry for everything from perfume to candies.
Another famous herbal or vegetal wine aroma is the flavour of bell pepper, which comes from a very specific aroma ester called Pyrazines. It is commonly found in wines from Bordeaux region grapes such as Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet France, Malbec and Merlot.
Herbaceous is a tasting term often associated with the smell of grass, vegetables and other prominent herbs like thyme, rosemary, celery, dill, eucalyptus and lemongrass. Few grapes that are associated with herbaceous flavour are Cabernet Franc, Carmenere, Sauvignon Blanc, Colambard and Cabernet Sauvignon. This characteristic of the wine is primarily developed from wine making process, such as using under ripened grapes and using over rigorous extraction techniques.
For many years, winemakers and sommeliers tried to evaluate about the vegetal or herbs aroma in these specific grapes. Then the researchers discovered about the presence of Pyrazines and it was concluded that by controlling the leafy part of the vines, growers can tweak what sort of aromas the vines generate in their grapes.
Recently, it has become clear that elevated Pyrazines levels in juice and wine can come from infestation of grapes by members of the lady beetle family. A high presence of certain types of methoxypyrazine are considered a fault in wines. Scholars have speculated that bad pyrazine aromas can be corrected with better vineyard management.
Vegetal tastes/aromas in wine have often been considered flawed when it’s the predominant note, or when it is accompanied by unripe fruit flavours. Thus, green flavours in wine are almost universally rejected by consumers. However when kept in check with other elements of wine, vegetal notes add another layer of complexity.
