Knowledge of wine flavor has paralleled developments in analytical chemistry. In the 19th century, analytical methods focused on the determination of major wine components such as ethanol, organic acids, and sugars. The development of chromatographic techniques in the early 1900s and particularly development of gas chromatography in the early 1950s ushered in a new era of discovery for analytical chemists. Currently, more than 1300 volatile compounds have been identified in alcoholic beverages and new compounds continue to be discovered. At the beginning of the 21st century, the focus is beginning to shift away from identification and quantification of new flavor compounds and toward developing dynamic analytical techniques that can model the complex relationships between volatile composition and sensory properties. In addition, rapid, readily automated techniques that can be used to optimize agricultural (viticultural) practices and processing or aging conditions are being evaluated and developed.

Primarily, this review provides a discussion of the major volatile compounds involved in wine flavor and an overview of the analytical techniques that have been instrumental in investigating the flavor of wines made from Vitis vinifera grapes. Secondarily, a brief discussion of the flavor contributions and analysis of nonvolatiles is also presented.