You know that guy in your group of friends
that always brings wine to the party
JUST so he can talk about it?
He’s always saying things like “Ooh!
There are notes of bacon!
Reaaaally swish it
around you’ll get those hints of cream soda.
Really taste the purple.”
It may sound strange, and it may make you
get different friends, but all those different
smells and tastes come from complex chemistry
that gives each bottle of wine its unique flavors.
[REACTIONS INTRO]
First off, sorry high rollers, but no matter
how much you paid for it, a bottle of wine
is about 98 percent water and ethanol.
It’s the remaining couple percent that makes
wine taste like wine, and more specifically
makes a shiraz taste different than a pinot noir.
It comes down to three things:
grapes, soil and climate.
If you think all wines are pretty
much the same, they ain’t!
There are more than 10-thousand wine grape
varieties in the world, all producing different
tastes and smells when made into wine.
Dirt is also a big factor.
Famous winegrowing areas like France, California
and Chile have distinct minerals in their soils across
their vast geographies that make wines different.
There are up to 60 trace elements in wine
that help identify a soil or grape variety.
Researchers can even identify
chemical fingerprints in wine
that point to the exact trees used to make
the wooden barrels many wines are aged in.
It’s like wine CSI, but with 100% less Caruso.
The other huge factor is climate.
Winemakers know that cold climates produce
lower alcohol wines with more subtle flavors,
while warm regions make more robust wines.
That’s because the ripening process that
produces sugars and many flavor
molecules, slows at cooler temperatures.
Once the grapes are crushed, natural
and added yeasts begin to eat the sugars,
turning them into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
The carbon dioxide gas is allowed to bubble out.
Like yeast farts.
But as yeasts digest sugars and other compounds
present in grape juice, they produce a host
of molecules that give wines their flavor.
Yeasts make acetic acid and other acids
that give wines their tartness.
Derivatives of pyruvic acid,
contribute to red wine’s color.
Yeasts also make diacetyl, which give
Chardonnays their “buttery” aroma.
And then there are the hundreds of other
molecules that give wines their very specific flavors.
For example, scientists have figured out
that methoxypyrazines make some wines
taste a bit like bell peppers.
And it doesn’t take many
molecules to tickle the taste buds.
two parts per TRILLION of methoxypyrazines.
Different molecules give the flavor or smell of
grasses or nuts, while other common wine
flavors, like chocolate or even tobacco,
haven’t been pinned to a specific molecule.
Another big component of wine’s flavor is tannins.
Tannins are big molecules that come from
the skin and seeds of grapes and also
the wood in barrels used to age the wine.
Look at that big sucker.
Some tannins trigger taste receptors on
your tongue and can give wine a bitter taste.
Others can make your mouth feel dry,
known as “astringency”.
Remember gang, taste and smell are
very complex processes, both chemically
and in how your brain interprets them.
So yes, you may not taste bell pepper
or chocolate and someone else might.
Don’t worry about it. Just enjoy!
Thanks to our friends at Azari Vineyards in
Petaluma, California for letting us drop by
their gorgeous winery and raise a glass.
Find out more about them in the description.
If you want to keep this booze cruise going,
check out our video on craft beer chemistry.
And our friends over at Speaking of Chemistry
actually took a bath in a bunch of red wine.
Why would they do such a thing?
You don’t want to miss that video!
Trust me!
And click subscribe to make sure you
never miss one of ours either.
Thanks for watching, Chemheads.
