Ready to make your own flavour additions to wine? This is a tool for learning to identify common wine flavours.
After addition of the flavour, the wine sample should be smelled and tasted, and compared with the same wine with no flavour addition.
A vial can be used in two ways:
We ship the flavouring vials worldwide.
After addition to wine, the wine is then safe to taste. The contents of the vials are not intended for direct consumption.
The vials last 12 months when kept refrigerated, even if part of the flavouring liquid is already used up.
They should be kept refrigerated.
White wine: A neutral white wine, such as Pinot Grigio, Ugni Blanc, Soave or unoaked Chardonnay.
Red wine: a neutral red wine, such as Languedoc Merlot, Côtes du Rhône, Bardolino or an entry-level Pinot Noir.
The base wines do not need to be refrigerated – they can be at room temperature.
No equipment is needed. The vials contain a built-in pipette.
Typically you make the flavour additions on the same day as the tasting. If you add the flavours to a bottle, you could add the flavours one day in advance of the tasting.
Just like any opened wine bottle, the wine will only keep for a few days.
Most flavours will remain noticeable, with the exception of wine faults #4 methyl mercaptan (reduction), as this compound volatilises easily.
The flavour compounds are sourced from commercial vendors, laboratories and research institutions. They are not sourced from commercial sniffing kits such as Le Nez du Vin.
Some of them are of natural origin, some of them are of synthetic origin. In practical terms, this is irrelevant. Their purity is so high that the natural version cannot be discriminated from its synthetic counterpart.
