Table of contents

Bouquet

Bouquet comes from the French and describes the characteristic scent of a wine, reminiscent of a bouquet of flowers.
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Diego Mathier

6. January 2025 - 7 min reading time

Table of contents

Bunter Blumenstrauss als Symbol für ein Bouquet mit verschiedenen Blüten neben zwei Gläsern Rotwein auf dunklem Holztisch

The most important facts in brief

  • The word “bouquet” comes from the French and describes the characteristic scent of a wine that unfolds in the glass and has a variety of aromas, similar to a bouquet of flowers.
  • The bouquet is an important quality criterion for wine and is made up of the aromas of the grapes as they mature.
  • The vintage, grape variety and growing region have an influence on the bouquet of a wine, which develops further during bottle ageing.
  • The term “tertiary aroma” describes the third aroma that develops in the wine during maturation, also known as the lager bouquet.
  • A bouquet can contain both pleasant and unpleasant off-notes that indicate the poor quality of the wine.

The word bouquet comes from the French and means bouquet of flowers. The term is used for wines because it refers to the characteristic aroma of a wine in the glass, which, like a colorful bouquet of flowers, can have a wide variety of scents. The bouquet, or bouquet, is composed of the aromas of the (different) grapes as the wine matures.

The bouquet is a criterion for assessing the quality of the wine. When to speak of individual aromas or already of a bouquet is still the subject of much debate, even among experts.

It is a recognized fact that the bouquet of an aged wine depends on which grape variety was used in which growing region. However, the vintage also plays a decisive role, as the wine and its bouquet continue to change as it matures – usually in the bottle. This is also referred to as tertiary aroma, i.e. the third phase of aroma formation. The term storage bouquet is also frequently used in specialist literature. Overall, the term bouquet refers to all the aromas and flavors that a wine has. Accordingly, a bouquet can not only have pleasant aromas but also off-notes that indicate that the wine is of inferior to unpalatable quality, which usually manifest themselves immediately on the palate.

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