Why does this wine smell like apricots?
Speaker: Dr Tracey Siebert (AWRI)
Webinar recorded: 4 October 2018
Recently, the compounds in Viognier wine that give rise to its varietal ‘apricot’ aroma character were determined at the AWRI. After detailed sensory and chemical studies on Viognier and Chardonnay wines, sensory reconstitution experiments confirmed that a mixture of three monoterpenes, linalool, geraniol and nerol, was the most important group to be added to give an ‘apricot’ attribute. Monoterpenes are grape-derived aroma compounds. To explore clonal differences, the monoterpenes were measured in 11 Viognier clones from one vineyard over several seasons. The differing concentrations of monoterpenes found could provide winemakers with options to achieve a desired wine style or to use in blending.