© Itu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
SENSORY
The language of aromas
Over 800 aromatic compounds have been identified in wine. The aroma wheel organizes the most important – from ripe berry to wet stone.
Smelling is remembering. The aroma wheel gives what you find in the glass a name.
SENSORY · EIGHT FAMILIES
The interactive aroma wheel
From ripe fruit to wet stone. Hover a family for detail — click it to filter the varieties below that carry exactly these notes.
Eight aroma families
Hover a family for detail — or click it to filter the varieties below.
GRAPE VARIETIES
104 varieties, 104 signatures
104 / 104 varieties
Every variety has its own taste profile — a radar across six axes: acidity, sweetness, body, tannin, aroma and depth.
WHERE AROMAS COME FROM
Three sources, one bouquet
01
Primary
From the grape
Fruit and floral aromas straight from the variety — peach in Riesling, cherry in Pinot Noir.
02
Secondary
From fermentation
Yeast, fermentation and oak — brioche, butter, vanilla, toast, cocoa.
03
Tertiary
Through ageing
Deep ageing aromas — petrol (Riesling), leather, mushroom, truffle, honey, walnut.
KEY IDEA
No wine contains blackcurrant — yet Cabernet smells of it.
Aromas arise from grape, fermentation and ageing. The wheel organises them — and shows which regions and soils favour which notes.
The terroir behind the aromas →8
Aroma families
104
Variety profiles
800+
Aroma compounds in wine