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23. Understanding Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Aromas & Flavors
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Episode Description
In this episode of Wine Educate, host Joanne Close explores the essential primary, secondary, and tertiary aromas and flavors in wine. Identifying and categorizing these aromas is a crucial skill for WSET Level 3 students, as they play a key role in tasting notes and determining a wine’s development.
Joanne breaks down how these aromas are classified, why they matter for the Systematic Approach to Tasting (SAT), and common student struggles when learning to differentiate them. She also shares practical study tips and wine examples to help students sharpen their tasting skills.
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Primary, secondary, and tertiary aromas and flavors are crucial for describing wines accurately.
In WSET Level 3, identifying tertiary aromas (or the lack of them) determines whether a wine is youthful or developing.
Wines can have different combinations of these aromas—some may be all primary, while others may show secondary and tertiary characteristics.
Source: Directly from the grape variety and fermentation process.
Categories:
Floral: Elderflower, violet, rose, chamomile
Herbaceous: Grass, green bell pepper, asparagus
Fruit: Citrus, red fruit, black fruit, tropical, dried
Spice: Black pepper
Examples:
Sauvignon Blanc: Gooseberry, passion fruit, elderflower
Cabernet Sauvignon (unoaked): Black currant, green bell pepper, mint
Syrah (unoaked): Blackberry, black pepper, violet
Source: Derived from fermentation and maturation choices (winemaking techniques).
Key Influences:
Lees Contact: Biscuit, bread, dough, brioche, yogurt
Malolactic Conversion (MLF): Butter, butterscotch, cream
Oak Aging: Vanilla, coconut, smoke, toast, clove, cedar, coffee, chocolate
Examples:
Champagne: Strong lees influence due to extended time on lees.
Oaked Chardonnay: MLF (butter) + Lees influence (biscuit, brioche) + Oak (vanilla, toast, baking spice)
Grand Cru Classé Bordeaux: Clear oak influence (cedar, tobacco, vanilla, spice)
Source: Develop due to bottle aging or oxidation in oak.
Types of Aging:
Oxidative Maturation (oak aging): Walnut, coffee, caramel
Bottle Aging (anaerobic development): Leather, mushroom, tobacco, petrol, honey
Examples:
Aged Riesling: Petrol, honey, dried apricot
Aged Bordeaux: Cedar, tobacco, earth
Vintage Port: Dried fruit, fig, nutty aromas
Practice is key—many students struggle because they are not used to focusing on aromas in daily life.
Use your SAT card—but be specific! Writing “citrus” won’t earn points; list lemon, lime, or grapefruit instead.
Tertiary aromas can be tricky—some honey aromas in botrytized wines (e.g., Sauternes, Tokaji) are primary, not tertiary.
Dried fruit can be primary or tertiary—depends on how the wine was made (e.g., Amarone uses dried grapes but is still youthful).
Group tasting is essential—try tasting older wines together to identify tertiary characteristics.
Calibrate your palate—practice with study groups and compare tasting notes.
Don't rush—building aroma recognition takes time and repetition.
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