Some monovarietal wines (think Gewurztraminer, Concord, or Riesling) have aromas dominated by one, or a few, volatile compounds, making it fairly easy to link perceived aroma to chemical analysis. Most wines, however, share the same collection of volatile compounds, but smell very different due to slight variations in compound ratios. This session will cover a new approach to characterizing varietally-important aroma compounds using untargeted analysis of commercial wines, using Norton and Cabernet Sauvignon research as a case study. The implications of this method for future breeding efforts will also be discussed.

Misha Kwasniewski, Assistant Research Professor, Penn State