Term used in France (retro aroma, oral aroma, retrogusto and retro odour) for aromas perceived in the nasopharyngeal cavity on exhalation (retronasal). See under aroma.
The term (Greek for "flavour") plays an important role in wine evaluation and wine appreciation. Wine contains many hundreds of aromatic substances with a proportion of 0.8 to 1.2 grams per litre. They can be determined in the laboratory using chromatography. In general, aroma is understood to be the scent of a wine, also known poetically as the "nose". The aroma is perceived by smelling (nose) and not by tasting (palate, tongue), but together with the flavour it forms an overall impression when drinking wine.

A wine can contain spicy notes (1), fruity tones (2) and floral (3) aromas, which make up the flavour (4). There are three stages of development; this tripartite division is widely recognised among experts. Unpressed grapes contain most of the flavouring substances as glycosides (sugar compounds). However, they are still tasteless and odourless and are only developed through fermentation and bottle ageing....
![]()
For me, Lexicon from wein.plus is the most comprehensive and best source of information about wine currently available.
Egon Mark
Diplom-Sommelier, Weinakademiker und Weinberater, Volders (Österreich)