The University of Davis California developed an aroma wheel to aid
in the tasting of wine. It is meant to provide a standard vocabulary
for the nose of a wine. Some smells are pleasant, whereas others are
indicative of a problem (e.g. wet cardboard). The wheel may be applied to
both red wine and white wine, but note that different grapes have different
characteristic aromas. For white wines, a Sauvignon Blanc is frequently
characterized as "vegetal" whereas a Reisling might have a "floral"
aroma. Reds like Cabernet Sauvignon often have a vegetal smell, or hints of "berry". Highly oaked red and white wines have a vanilla smell.
Unfortunately, the Wine Aroma Wheel does not translate well to raw text. The aroma wheel follows, unrolled. The left column is center of the wheel,
corresponding to the more general terms. The right column is the wheel
edge, corresponding to more specific terms:
Floral Floral Terpene
Linalool
Jasmine
Rose
Violet
Geranium
Spicy Spicy Cinnamon
Cloves
Black Pepper
Licorice/Anise
Mint
Fruity Citrus Grapefruit
Lemon
Orange
Berry Blackberry
Raspberry
Strawberry
Blackcurrant
Tree Fruit Cherry
Apricot
Peach
Pear
Apple
Tropical Fruit Pineapple
Melon
Banana
Estery Artificial fruit
Dried Fruit Strawberry jam
Raisin
Prune
Fig
Labrusca Methyl Anthranilate
Vegetative Fresh Stemmy
Grass/cut
Green bell pepper
Eucalyptus
Dried Hay/Straw
Tea
Canned/Cooked Green beans
Asparagus
Green olive
Black olive
Artichoke
Earthy Earthy Dusty
Mushroom
Concrete
Earthy
Moldy Musty
Moldy cooperage
Moldy cork
Chemical Petroleum Tar
Plastic
Kerosene
Diesel
Sulfur Rubbery
Hydrogen sulfide
Mercaptan
Onion
Garlic
Skunk
Cabbage
Burnt Match
Wet wool/wet dog
Papery Filter pad
Wet cardboard
Wet paper
Pungent Ethyl acetate
Acetic acid
Ethanol
Sulfur dioxide
Other Fishy
Soapy
Sorbate
Fusel alcohol
Oxidized Oxidized Acetaldehyde
Wood Phenolic Phenol
Vanilla
Resinous Pine
Cedar
Oak
Caramelized Caramel Honey
Butterscotch
Buttery
Soy sauce
Chocolate
Molasses
Burned Burnt toast
Smoky
Microbiological Yeasty Flor-yeast
Leesy
Lactic Sauerkraut
Butyric acid
Sweaty
Lactic acid
Other Horsy
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