The aromas of wine

The smell sense is extremely delicate and selective, more linked to the memory than other senses. The wine aroma gives us valuable information such as grape variety; making or ageing system; production quality, age; and evolution.

If we move the glass close to the nose, we will perceive the primary aromas or varietals. 

We call secondary aromas the ones that appear after the alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. These aromas, sometimes, can be perceived with more intensity. The primary aromas are subtle and lighter, more persistent than the first ones. 

Then we get to the tertiary aromas or bouquet that come from the ageing of a wine, usually in oak barrels. Furthermore, we can find reductive aromas from the time ageing in bottle, after a time in oak. They usually give aromas of spices, clove, black pepper, tobacco and coffee.

In the wine tasting, we call aroma to the positive impressions; on the contrary, we call smell to the negative and inappropriate sensations of the wine.