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A complex glass of wine can have a dozen aromas and flavors in a glass, waiting to be discovered. Photo by Jonathan Ruchti.

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April 2005

Product Reviews / Main Nibbles / Wine

The Aromas & Flavors of Wine

All These in One Glass?

Jump to descriptors

What’s in your glass of wine? A complex series of flavors and aromas. See how many you can identify.

As your wine is exposed to air, as it warms in the glass, it will evolve and new aromas and flavors will reveal themselves. Often, off-putting odors will blow off—so keep an open mind if your initial reaction is not favorable.

Pioneering work in making sense of the flavor and aroma components was done by Professor Ann C. Noble of the University of California at Davis, Department of Enology and Viticulture. She developed the Aroma Wheel to provide a common platform for the descriptions of aromas and flavors of wine. It is an invaluable and inexpensive aid that immediately “explains it all for you,” much more than the chart below can. It can be purchased from Professor Noble at WineAromaWheel.com.

The chart below represents descriptors from a variety of sources including our own experience. It is not meant to be definitive, but to create an awareness of the broad variety of aromas and tastes that can be identified; and give you some vocabulary with which to discuss wine.

Each varietal has characteristic flavors and aromas, for example, Gewürtztraminer’s and lychee Riesling’s diesel or kerosene, Zinfandel’s pepper and spice; Pinot Noir’s red berry fruit (cherry or raspberry). Within these broad pointers, there are dozens of flavors and aromas to be explored. Since grapes take on added dimensions depending on where they are grown, the effects of the vintage year, and their age, it’s often difficult even for experts to tell a wine “blind”: at best, the most knowledgeable palates decipher the clues and make an educated guess (and have fun doing it).

Note that these are just aroma and flavor vocabulary words. We’re writing separately about body and mouthfeel...but first we need to taste some more wine!

Category	Wine Descriptors
Animal Aromas	Bacon Barnyard	Leather Musk

Caramel Aromas	Butter Butterscotch Chocolate	Cream Molasses Soy Sauce

Chemical	Acid Cabbage Diesel Grain Alcohol/Ethanol	Kerosene Rubber Skunky Tar

Earthy	Dusty Earth/Damp Earth Mildew*	Moldy*

Floral	Geranium Honeysuckle Orange Blossom	Rose Violet

Fruit	Apple Apricot Banana Blackberry Blackcurrant/Cassis Black Fruit Black Cherry Bilberry Candied Fruit Cherry Citrus Concord Grape Coconut Fig Grapefruit Jam Lemon	Lychee Melon Muscat Nectarine Orange Peach Pear Pineapple Prune Quince Raspberry Raisin Redcurrant Red Fruit Strawberry Tropical Fruit Wild Berry

Grilled/Toasted	Coffee Grilled Meat Roasted	Smokey Toast

Mineral	Mineral	Powder/Talc Sulfur

Nutty	Almond Hazelnut	Walnut

Spicy	Anise/Licorice Cloves	Pepper

Vegetal and Herbaceous	Artichoke Asparagus Bell Pepper Black Olive Cigar Cinnamon Clove Cut Grass Eucalyptus Green Bean Green Olive Green Pepper	Hay/Straw Mint Mushroom Pine Saffron Tea Thyme Tobacco Truffle Yeast/Bread/Dough

Woody	Cedar Oak	Sawdust

*Indicates a flawed wine

WHITE WINES	Major Wines Of The U.S. & France, From Lightest to Richest
Chardonnay (White Burgundy)	A full-bodied, dry wine that can have notes of tart apple, lemon, pear, melon, vanilla and/or citrus. In warmer climates it can take on "tropical fruit" flavors such as pineapple and papaya.
Chenin Blanc (Savenières, Vouvray, Anjou, etc.)	A crisp wine, typically featuring notes of apple/green apple, floral, honey and pear. Some Chenin Blancs can be very nutty.
Fume Blanc (Sauvignon Blanc)	A medium-bodied wine with varied flavor profiles, including grapefruit, grassy and melony.
Gewürtztraminer	A light- to medium-bodied, slightly sweet wine known for its lychee flavor and spices: clove, cinnamon, ginger, floral, white pepper. Along with Riesling, which is typically grown in the same area, it features slightly higher sugar and lower acidity: both have unique and exotic flavor profiles that are rarely mistaken for any other wine.
Riesling	A light yet complex wine, most noted for a pleasant petrol or diesel flavor and aroma, along with hints of honey, fruit (apple, pear, peach, melon) and/or floral. Unfortunately, some producers today work to eliminate the petrol quality to make their wines more palatable to the general public.
Muscat	A medium-bodied, sweet wine with a perfumy nose and flavors that can include berry, floral, fruit, lemon, musk and spices. It is typically lower in acid than other sweet wines.
RED WINES	Major Wines Of The U.S. and France, From Lightest to Richest
Beaujolais	A light-bodied, high-acid, simple wine that is low in alcohol and very fruity, with notes of cherry jam. Meant for immediate consumption, not aging.
Pinot Noir (Red Burgundy)	A medium-bodied wine known for its lush fruit, Pinot Noir has notes of raspberry or cherry plus, earthiness and vanilla from oak barrel aging. A complex wine, it also can yield chocolate, leather and numerous other flavors.
Merlot (In Bordeaux blends)	A soft, mellow and less tannic red wine featuring flavors of blackberry, plum, violet, and raisin. Merlots from some regions have vegetal notes. Along with Cabernet Sauvignon, of the major blending grapes in Bordeaux.
Syrah or Shiraz	A medium-bodied, fruity wine with hints of blackberry, dark chocolate, licorice, mocha, pepper, raspberry and other spices.
Zinfandel	A powerful wine known for its pepper, spice and tannins. Other flavor notes can include berry, black raspberry, black cherry and nuttiness.
Cabernet Sauvignon (In Bordeaux blends)	A robust, complex wine generally yielding rich dark fruit and a strong tannin backbone. Depending on origin it can have notes of black currant, blackberry, plum or cherry fruit; chocolate, green pepper, and mint; plus oak and vanilla from the barrels. bitter and woody flavors. Notes of cedar, leather, “meatiness” and smoke are common to the wines of Bordeaux.
Port	A rich, sweet, viscous wine for dessert for after-dinner, Port is a blend of several grapes. It is fortified with brandy, giving it the highest alcohol content among wines. Common flavor notes are nuts, pepper, fruit, black currant and/or smoke.
Italy	Major Wines
Barbera or Barbera D’Alba	With some flavor characteristics similar to Cabernet Sauvignon (but higher acid levels and lighter tannins), Barbera’s prominent flavors are blackcurrant, blackberry, cherry and raspberry, with spice and other complex notes.
Barbaresco	A medium- to full-bodied wine made from the Nebbiolo grape, with deep berry fruits and flavor accents ranging from licorice and mint to smoke and earth.
Barolo	A full-bodied wine made from the Nebbiolo grape. Classic Barolo flavors include roses, tar, truffles, minerals—some have a hint of balsamic, some can be earthy and chocolaty, depending on the part of the Piedmont in which the grapes were grown.
Brunello	A robust, long-lived wine with deep tannins and intense flavors of berry, cedar, plum and tobacco.
Chianti	A medium- to full-bodied wine made primarily of the Sangiovese grape. The nose can be floral (violets and iris) or berry (black cherry), with palate notes of black cherry, grape, plus vanilla from the barrel aging. Some chiantis have an earthy quality.

Learn More About Wine


Great Wine Made Simple by Andre Immer: Learn more about tasting wine with wine expert Andrea Immer’s easy-to-follow guide. Click here for more information or to purchase.	How to Taste: Learn how to identify the many nuances of wine with this primer. Click here for more information or to purchase.	The Wine Bible: The go-to book for a wealth of wine information. Click here for more information or to purchase.

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