Wine flavors and aromas

[stevebody]

The flavors you mentioned can also occur in other parts of the vinifying process. Grapes are like little sponges, even after they're crushed. The old French practice of fermenting in concrete vats led to some fabulously "minerally" wines (duh). My friend Martin Clubb at L'Ecdole No. 41 here in WA state makes a little Bordeaux blend called Schoolhouse Red that has tasted, in several vintages, distinctly of fresh dill (LOVELY!!). Come to find out that one of the source vineyards from which he bought grapes was right next to a field of...fresh dill. Now that he grows his own Merlot, the wine is missing that. Damnit.

The organic compounds in the grapes themselves can mimic a huge range of flavors with no manipulation at all. It's just why some of us are so nutso about wine.