AROMA 2: CLOVE
Aroma 2 is CLOVE.
“A Merry Christmas, Bob!” said Scrooge with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. “A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I’ll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon over a bowl of smoking bishop, Bob!” So exclaims the repentant and enlightened Scrooge, and the drink he is offering is a kind of mulled wine that was very popular in Victorian England. An orange or lemon would be studded with cloves and slowly roasted and then added to a mixture of port and red wine, sugar and other spices.
In wine, clove (the aroma compound Eugenol), is especially found in wines matured in oak, especially heavily toasted oak. Chateauneuf Du Pape often presents a warming, spiced character, in part thanks to the bold alcohol levels, which leaves a warming tingle on the palate, the use of oak, and also the blend of Syrah and many other red grapes (which make up the complex cast of 13 grapes found in Chateauneuf Du Pape wines!) which are known to develop peppery, spiced notes like Grenache and Mourvèdre.