Why doesn't wine taste of grapes?* Why do some people insist a wine can taste of coffee? When grapes are crushed, fermentation begins. This is a somewhat magical chemical transformation. In simple terms, the constitutive elements of the grape are rearranged. What makes coffee taste of coffee is merely a series elements arranged in certain groupings. Grapes contain the building blocks for these, and much else, and thus when they are broken down in the magic of fermentation, the resulting wine may very well taste of coffee, or liquorice, or cloves. The myriad differences between wines (why there are so many different flavours) depends upon various actions the winemaker can effect. They span from the treatment of the grapes in the vineyard, the land itself, the climate, when the harvest is picked, how long it is fermented for, how it is aged, and much more. No two wines are the same, nor will a wine from the same vineyard in different years be exactly alike. This is what makes wine such a fascinating, and frustrating, subject.
*There are some wines which may taste of grapes, which are an exception, notably those made from Muscat.
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