Under the Fruit, Nothing

 For the majority of wine 'profaners', and in this category I would place even certain enologists and a few naive pseudo-wine lovers, the primary aromas of a wine are fundamental. These aromas are the products of primary esterification, those notes that, with drastic generalization, are commonly defined as 'fruity'. They form at the beginning of fermentation, when the alcohol, primarily ethyl alcohol of course, comes into contact with the organic acids contained in the wine, giving birth to volatile compounds (the acids, acetic aside, are not) which are called 'esters' and, in this case, primary esters because they some out in the initial stages.

Many of these get a little 'boost' from certain selected yeasts that 'work' to enhance particular volatile and scented compounds and can exalt and, in part, add to the assorted characteristics of the principal grapes. This is particularly the case with white wine where they can bring out some very captivating aromas. There is, however, a little problem and that is that in just a few hours after the bottle is opened they vanish with the same velocity they were created with, leaving little if anything behind. All this is the product of forced winemaking techniques, often serial productions, that can fool you for a little while, like good makeup on a lady of a certain age or a wonder bra. Above all these are 'constructed' wines, which in some cases are well-done but conceived only to épater le bourgeois. Scents of peppermint, balsamic notes or passion fruit in wines that are basically neuter, essential fruity tones that wrap, impress and in some cases can even bewitch an ingenuous or gullible public.

There are a lot of wines like this out there and, I must say, not so much in Italy (although they exist) as in countries in the New World, where the characteristics of the terroir are often nonexistent, substituted by technical tricks that seek to make the wine in some way recognizable and even enhance an expected diversity. All this in total disregard for those who seek complexity, territoriality and an ability to evolve with age, aspects that are foundation, the heart of any quality wine.