Savouriness is an aspect of wine that I had not really appreciated fully before I created this website. Since then, it has become another dimension that I actively look for and enjoy, particularly in Pinot Noir and Shiraz.
For me, savouriness can make a wine more interesting, more versatile with food and sometimes considerably more sophisticated than its price might suggest. A relatively inexpensive wine with the right balance of fruit and savoury character can have an extra layer of complexity that lifts it above a straightforwardly fruity wine.
It is also a characteristic that I think can sometimes confuse people who are relatively new to wine. If you expect a red wine to taste primarily of ripe berries and other fruit, aromas of herbs, earth, mushrooms, pepper, leather or even meat can initially seem strange. Looking through online reviews, I also occasionally see people saying a wine is faulty when what they may actually be encountering is part of its intended savoury character.
Savouriness is really an umbrella term for flavours and aromas that feel less fruity or floral and more herbal, earthy, spicy, vegetal, mineral or umami-like. Herbal savouriness might remind you of dried thyme, sage, bay leaf, rosemary or fennel, as well as the mixture of wild Mediterranean herbs often described as garrigue. Wines made from Cabernet-family grapes can sometimes have notes of green pepper, tomato leaf or green peppercorn, while Rhône and Mediterranean reds can lean towards dried herbs, black olives and pepper.
Earthier examples can suggest damp soil, mushrooms, forest floor, wet leaves, truffles or undergrowth. These characters can become more noticeable as wine matures and its fresh primary fruit becomes less dominant.
Then there is a distinctly meaty style of savouriness. Depending on the wine, this can suggest cured meat, game, leather, stock, smoked bacon, iron or something almost bloody. Syrah, Mourvèdre, Nebbiolo and mature Bordeaux-style wines can all display different versions of these characteristics.
None of these descriptions should be taken too literally. There are no mushrooms, olives or rashers of bacon hidden in the bottle. They are simply familiar comparisons our brains use to describe combinations of aroma and flavour compounds. There is no single ingredient responsible for savouriness. It is usually the result of several factors, beginning with the grape variety and conditions in the vineyard and continuing through fermentation, maturation and ageing.
Some grapes naturally contain compounds that produce distinctly non-fruity aromas. One important group is the methoxypyrazines, which can contribute green pepper, leafy and herbal characteristics, particularly in varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Their influence tends to be more pronounced when grapes ripen in cooler conditions or when the fruit receives less sunlight.
Another fascinating compound is rotundone, which produces the aroma we recognise as black pepper. It occurs naturally in some grape varieties and is particularly associated with peppery examples of Syrah. Cooler growing conditions can favour its presence, helping explain why some wines have such an unmistakable cracked-black-pepper character.
Fermentation and maturation add further layers. Yeasts and bacteria transform the chemistry of grape juice, while ageing wine on its lees, the spent yeast cells remaining after fermentation, can contribute greater texture and flavours reminiscent of bread, biscuit and nuts. Lees ageing is particularly important in traditional-method sparkling wine and can also play a role in Chardonnay and other whites.
Umami is another part of the equation, although savouriness in wine should not automatically be equated with umami. Amino acids, including glutamate, are naturally present in wine, and yeast autolysis during prolonged lees ageing can increase the concentration of compounds associated with savoury taste. However, much of what we describe as a savoury wine is actually being detected through aroma rather than through the tongue’s umami receptors.
There is also a more controversial source of savouriness, Brettanomyces. This wild yeast can produce aromas described as leathery, earthy, smoky, farmyard-like or sometimes medicinal. In small quantities, some drinkers feel these characters add complexity, particularly to certain traditional styles of red wine. At higher levels they are generally regarded as a fault because they can overwhelm the wine’s fruit and varietal character. It is a good example of the rather blurred boundary between appealing savouriness and something genuinely undesirable.
Age can take savouriness in another direction altogether. As wine develops in barrel and bottle, its youthful fruit gradually changes and new tertiary aromas emerge. Fresh berries may become dried fruit, while flavours and aromas reminiscent of mushrooms, forest floor, tobacco, leather, dried herbs and undergrowth can become increasingly prominent. This is one reason an older wine can taste so different from a young version of exactly the same wine. The fruit has not necessarily disappeared, but it is no longer the whole story. For people accustomed to youthful, fruit-driven wines, these mature flavours can initially seem rather odd. Once you begin to appreciate them, however, they can provide some of the most fascinating experiences in wine.
Personally, I do not usually want savouriness to dominate completely. What I particularly enjoy is a wine that remains fruit-led but has a savoury counterpoint. Pinot Noir is particularly good at providing this balance. The attractive red-cherry, raspberry or strawberry fruit can be accompanied by herbs, earth, forest floor, mushrooms and subtle spice. That contrast can prevent the wine from becoming too simple or sweet-fruited. Shiraz can achieve something similar in a darker and more powerful way, combining blackberry and plum fruit with pepper, herbs, smoked meat, olive or earthy characters.
Some affordable examples I have particularly enjoyed include The Best Gran Reserva Pinot Noir, Irresistible Casablanca Valley Pinot Noir and Great Western Shiraz. These demonstrate that savoury complexity is not restricted to expensive bottles. It can sometimes be precisely the characteristic that makes a modestly priced wine seem much more interesting. At the more premium end, Lismore Pinot Noir provides a more extreme example of the style, with savoury character playing a much larger role in the overall experience.
Savouriness will not appeal equally to everyone, and there is certainly nothing wrong with preferring wines that are dominated by clean, ripe fruit. But if you have previously regarded herbal, earthy, peppery or meaty flavours in wine with suspicion, it is worth exploring them a little further. You may discover, as I did, that savouriness adds an entirely new dimension to wine and that the most enjoyable bottles can be those in which beautiful fruit and intriguing savoury flavours exist side by side.
