Tertiary aromas
/ˈtɜːrʃiˌɛri əˈroʊməz/
Tertiary aromas are the smells that develop in a wine through aging in barrel and/or bottle, rather than coming directly from the grape or the fermentation process. They arise over time through slow chemical reactions (often involving oxygen) and typically include notes like dried fruit, nuts, leather, tobacco, forest floor, mushroom, honey, caramel, coffee, and spice.
Examples
- A 20-year-old Bordeaux showing tertiary aromas of leather, cigar box, dried blackcurrant, and forest floor, instead of the fresh blackcurrant and plum of its youth.
- An aged Riesling with tertiary notes of honey, toasted bread, dried apricot, and a subtle petrol character, replacing the sharp lime and green apple of a young bottle.
- A mature traditional-method Champagne displaying tertiary aromas of toasted nuts, caramel, dried fruit, and mushroom on top of its earlier brioche and citrus profile.
Etymology
The term "tertiary aromas" combines "tertiary," from Latin "tertiarius" ("of the third"), with "aromas," from Greek "ἄρωμα" (arōma), meaning spice or fragrant smell. In modern wine education, it forms part of a three-level framework—primary (grape-derived), secondary (fermentation- and winemaking-derived), and tertiary (aging-derived) aromas—popularized in the late 20th century by institutions such as the WSET and the Court of Master Sommeliers. Historically, many of the smells now called tertiary aromas were simply referred to as the wine’s "bouquet," especially in the context of bottle-aged wines.