Free Shipping

wine off-flavours kit


Wine flavour standards kit used to train professional tasters to recognize and scale the intensity of six off-flavours.

Use them to deliver up to 20 hours of taster training for ten people. Comes complete with presentation case and one set of wine flavour cards. AROXA™ wine flavour standards are: food grade | free from sensory impurities | extensively tested | safe to smell and taste.

Flavours in this kit:

Flavour cards

Flavour standard information

Product image
earn 40 points
£399.00
OR

“Grape-like, like lime blossom or putty”

Sub-product image
  • Sub-product label image2-aminoacetophenone
  • Number of capsulesNumber of capsules
  • Chemical structure

2-aminoacetophenone

1.25 mg

Technical specification

Assessment
Cover the sample with your hand and swirl the glass to release the aroma. Remove your hand and take a single long sniff. Repeat as necessary.
Amount of flavour per capsule
1.25 mg
Threshold
1 - 40 µg / l in wine
Origins
Varietal character contributed through use of certain grape varieties (e.g. Vitis labsrusca). Also formed from tryptophan present in wine. Associated with ageing in the absence of lees and use of new barrels.
Importance
Imparts a fruity, grape-like odour to wine, reminiscent of lime blossom, putty and taco shells depending on the concentration. Associated with the atypical (premature) ageing of white wine when it is often found together with sotolon. The key drivers of this fault are not fully understood though vine stress during drought conditions is known to be involved.
CAS registry number
551-93-9
Other names
  • 1-(2-aminophenyl)ethanone
  • 2-acetyl analine
  • ortho- acetyl aniline
  • 2-acetyl phenyl amine
  • ortho-aminoacetophenone
  • ortho-aminoacetyl benzene
  • 2-aminophenyl methyl ketone
  • ortho-aminophenyl methyl ketone
  • 1-(2-aminophenyl) ethanone
  • 1-(2-aminophenyl)ethanone
Remarks
When contributed to wine as a varietal character, 2-aminoacetophenone occurs together with methyl anthranilate to impart a distinctive fruity (foxy) character.
Threshold distribution
Graph

“Rotten vegetable, like a sewage treatment plant”

Sub-product image
  • Sub-product label imagedimethyl disulphide
  • Number of capsulesNumber of capsules
  • Chemical structure

dimethyl disulphide

300 µg

Technical specification

Assessment
Without covering the glass, swirl the sample to release the aroma. Take a single short sniff. Repeat as necessary.
Amount of flavour per capsule
300 µg
Threshold
30 - 300 µg / l in wine
Origins
Produced in wine through oxidation of methanethiol. Its presence is indicative of wine oxidation or ‘stressed’ fermentations. Exposure of wine to light can also lead to formation of dimethyl disulphide and other sulphur compounds.
Confusions
Dimethyl disulphide imparts a sulphury off-flavour to wine, reminiscent of rotten vegetables and asparagus. The compound can also arise during wine making via methanethiol from degradation of sulphur-containing fungicides applied to grapes.
CAS registry number
624-92-0
Other names
  • DMDS
  • dimethyl disulfide
  • dimethyl disulfane
  • 2,3-dithiabutane
  • methyl disulfide
  • (methyl dithio) methane
  • methyl dithiomethane
  • methyldithiomethane
  • methyldisulfanylmethane
Remarks
Wines packaged in clear glass are most sensitive to formation of light-induced off-flavours such as dimethyl disulphide.
Threshold distribution
Graph

"Honey, like sweet mead or sherry”

Sub-product image
  • Sub-product label imageethyl phenylacetate
  • Number of capsulesNumber of capsules
  • Chemical structure

ethyl phenylacetate

900 µg

Technical specification

Assessment
Cover the sample with your hand and swirl the glass to release the aroma. Remove your hand and take a single long sniff. Repeat as necessary.
Amount of flavour per capsule
900 µg
Threshold
150 - 300 µg / l in wine
Origins
Produced by yeast during maturation of cider from phenolic precursors. Concentrations may increase after packaging as a result of non-enzymic reactions.
Importance
At low concentrations ethyl phenylacetate imparts a pleasant sweet, ‘honey-like’ note to wine. The presence of this note is associated with high quality white wines, such as Sauternes and Tokaji in vintage years. The compound has been confirmed as a cause of a sweet flavour detect in Italian Aglianico del Vulture reds.
CAS registry number
101-97-3
Other names
  • benzene acetic acid ethyl ester
  • ethyl 2-phenyl ethanoate
  • ethyl 2-phenylacetate
  • ethyl alpha-toluate
  • ethyl benzene acetate
  • ethyl phenyl ethanoate
  • phenyl acetic acid ethyl ester
  • alpha- toluic acid ethyl ester
Remarks
This compound is also responsible for the sweet, honey-like note found in top class sweet white wines. This flavour is slow to develop on the palate.
Threshold distribution
Graph

“Earthy, like green pepper”

Sub-product image
  • Sub-product label image2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine
  • Number of capsulesNumber of capsules
  • Chemical structure

2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine

50 ng

Technical specification

Assessment
Without covering the glass, swirl the sample to release the aroma. Take a single short sniff. Repeat as necessary.
Amount of flavour per capsule
50 ng
Threshold
10 - 16 ng / l in wine
Origins
Contributed by certain grapes as a varietal character. Higher levels of methoxypyrazines are associated with under-ripe grapes and the presence of vine stem material during extraction of juice.
Importance
At low levels imparts a desirable herbaceous, bell pepper, varietal character. Too much suggests insufficient maturity of the grapes. It is regarded as an off-flavour at higher concentrations or in some wine styles. Isobutyl methoxypyrazine is one of several methoxypyrazines found in grapes and wine.
CAS registry number
24683-00-9
Other names
  • 2-methoxy-3-(2-methylpropyl)pyrazine
  • isobutyl methoxypyrazine
  • 3-isobutyl-2-methoxypyrazine
  • galbanum pyrazine
  • 2- methoxy-3-(2-methyl propyl) pyrazine
  • 2-methoxy-3-(2-methylpropyl)pyrazine
  • 2-methoxy-3-isobutyl pyrazine
  • 2-2-methyl propyl-3-methoxypyrazine
Remarks
Methoxypyrazines have remarkably low flavour thresholds. They represent a varietal characteristic in Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and, sometimes, Merlot. Regarded as a spoilage characteristic in red Bordeaux wines.
Threshold distribution
Graph

“Isovaleric, like stale cheese or sweaty socks”

Sub-product image
  • Sub-product label imageisovaleric acid
  • Number of capsulesNumber of capsules
  • Chemical structure

isovaleric acid

7.5 mg

Technical specification

Assessment
Cover the sample with your hand and swirl the glass to release the aroma. Remove your hand and take a single long sniff. Repeat as necessary.
Amount of flavour per capsule
7.5 mg
Threshold
1 - 2.5 mg / l in wine
Origins
Formed by contaminant Brettanomyces during maturation of wine or as a result of spoilage in bottle.
Importance
Imparts an odour of stale cheese or sweaty socks. Growth of Brettanomyces can add complexity to the product. Excessive growth leads to spoilage, imparting a distinctive and undesirable ‘Brett’ character.
CAS registry number
503-74-2
Other names
  • 3-methylbutanoic acid
  • isobutyl formic acid
  • delphinic acid
  • dephinic acid
  • 3-methyl butanoic acid
  • 3-methyl butyric acid
  • beta-methyl butyric acid
  • 3-methylbutanoic acid
  • isopentanoic acid
  • isopropyl acetic acid
  • isovalerianic acid
Remarks
When produced by Brettanomyces isovaleric acid often occurs together with other compounds, including acetic acid, ethyl acetate, and 4-ethyl phenol. A significant proportion of the population is relatively insensitive to this flavour.
Threshold distribution
Graph

“Mercaptan, like drains or rotting garbage”

Sub-product image
  • Sub-product label imagemethanethiol
  • Number of capsulesNumber of capsules
  • Chemical structure

methanethiol

23 µg

Technical specification

Assessment
Without covering the glass, swirl the sample to release the aroma. Take a single short sniff. Repeat as necessary.
Amount of flavour per capsule
23 µg
Threshold
0.3 – 3 µg / l in wine
Origins
Arises through yeast autolysis at the end of fermentation or during maturation. Formation of high levels by yeast can be indicative of a deficiency of amino acids in the must and ‘stressed’ fermentations.
Importance
Component of the sulphury flavour character of wine. Found in all wines to a degree. Off-flavour when present in excess. Supplementation of must with ammonium salts prior to fermentation can help control formation of mercaptans.
CAS registry number
74-93-1
Other names
  • methyl mercaptan
  • mercaptomethane
  • methane thiol
  • methyl sulfhydrate
  • thiomethanol
  • thiomethyl alcohol
Remarks
Methanethiol is the main thiol found in wine, the other being ethanethiol which can be formed in a chemical reaction between ethanol and H2S.
Threshold distribution
Graph

Last viewed

  1. Product image

    Single set of 29 individual wine flavour cards
    £30.00 / 25 points

    Use them in taste sessions, frame them and hang them on your taste room wall - do what you will. These well-researched information cards will tell you most of what you need to know.

  2. Product image

    Single set of 29 bound wine flavour cards
    £30.00 / 25 points

    Master your subject! Key facts and figures for every wine flavour at your fingertips. The ideal wine flavour reference.

  3. Product image

    Five sets of 29 individual wine flavour cards
    £110.00 / 100 points

    Use them in taste sessions, frame them and hang them on your taste room wall - do what you will. These well-researched information cards will tell you most of what you need to know.