Wine Aroma

Appears in
On Food and Cooking

By Harold McGee

Published 2004

  • About
If acidity is the backbone of a wine, viscosity and astringency its body, then aroma is its life, its animating spirit. Though they account for only about one part in a thousand of wine’s weight, the volatile molecules that can escape the liquid and ascend into the nose are what fill out its flavor, and make wine much more than tart alcoholic water.