| Posted on 20070522 |
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 Wine and honey have been associated with each other for a long time. In fact, in acient times, Romans and Greeks used to sweeten their wines with honey. The roman version was called Mulsum and the Greek version was known as Oinomeli. Today wine and honey are associated with each other in the olfactory analysis. In fact the scent of honey is reminiscent of flowers such as acacia, or stewed yellow fruit such as apricot.
To be specific, the aroma of honey is a mix of floral and waxy notes. The floral notes are created mainly by the Pheynyl-ethylic aldehyde and the waxy notes are generated by the ethyl phenylacetate.
Ethyl phenylacetate
The scent of honey is a benchmark in sweet dessert wines made from noble-rot affected grapes or simply late-harvest grapes. The greatest examples are Sauternes, Monbanzillacs, Barsacs and Bergeracs. Often this aroma is found also in late-harvest wines from Alsace and Germany as well. In "regular" wines, the nuance of honey is commonly associated with the richest whites such as Meursault, Montrachet, Corton-Charlemagne and with the high-end American Chardonnays.
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