ALL OTHER AROMAS
Other is a fairly large category that includes all the other aromas that can come about due to different winemaking processes. These can be split into the most important sub-categories: Oak, Dairy, Yeast, Nut, and Mineral.
Mineral is not actually of winemaking intervention but rather a category of aromas that comes about naturally thanks to the relationship with the grape and the natural fermentation process. Mineral aromas are: Wet Wool, Stones, Shells, Tar, and Petrol/Kerosene.
NOTE: Kerosene can be seen as off-putting to the onlooker reading this but it is actually a prized aroma of top-quality aged Riesling.
Oak aromas clearly derive from wines that have been fermented and/or aged in oak barrels. Most red wines will have spent some time in oak and many full bodied white wines as well such as Chardonnay and Viognier. Aromas derived from oak are: Vanilla, Buttered Toast, Cedar Wood, and Caramel. Depending on how long the wines spend in oak, and the type of oak used, it can also give spice flavours.
Malolactic Fermentation (MLF) is the secondary fermentation that winemakers choose to put their wines through in order to gain dairy aromas. These dairy aromas are: Cream, Yoghurt, Butter, or Cheese. Nearly all red wines will go through Malolactic Fermentation naturally and it will give the wines a softer texture and a slight creamy note. Where winemakers will ensure to stop it from happening in their white wines aside from making quality Chardonnays. So Malolactic Fermentation is what gives classic Chardonnays their buttery flavours – this is separate to oak derived flavours. So you can quite easily get a buttery Chardonnay with no oak influence, and vice versa.
Yeast aromas are derived from a process called lees maturation. Once the yeasts used to ferment the grape juice into wine are used up they die – once they reach this stage we call them lees. They are still useful as they retain flavour compounds that can be imparted into the wines to give complexity. The aromas that come about from lees maturation/stirring are: Baked Bread, Pastry and Bread Dough.
Nut aromas are imparted into wines through a mix of oak ageing and oxidative ageing. These aromas are not found in all wines that go through both of these processes, which means that certain aromatic particles from the grapes themselves must impart join up to make these aromas. Nut aromas found in wine are: Peanut, Almond, Hazelnut, Walnut, Coffee Bean, and Chocolate. Chocolate and Coffee Bean flavours are typical of many red wines, where classic nut aromas are found in many mature white wines.
WINE FAULTS