There’s more than alcohol at work when we pour a glass of grassy Sauvignon Blanc and feel a deep sense of relief. For varietal wines like Sauvignon Blanc and Grüner Veltliner, grassiness is a positive aroma descriptor with which many consumers can readily identify. In a 2021 survey of 2,000 consumers commissioned by Swiss decongestant brand Olbas, the smell of fresh-cut grass ranked number one among 20 different aromas (not all of which were pleasant) in terms of its ability to recall childhood memories. Researchers have found that odor-evoked memories like those connected to the smell of grass are linked with the first decade of life and tend to be highly emotional, vivid, and specific.

The distinct smell of newly mown grass is the result of a volatile chemical cocktail known as green leaf volatiles (GLVs). GLVs are a combination of aldehydes (including hexanal and hexenal), terpenes, and pheromones that are released by plants in great quantities to act as a warning signal to other plants and insects when they are being damaged.

Plants also emit GLVs to attract predatory insects when they are being attacked by pests and use them as protection against fungi and frost damage, as GLVs have antifungal properties that can inhibit the growth and development of certain fungal pathogens and also contribute to the overall stress tolerance of plants, making them better equipped to withstand environmental stresses.

Scientists believe that GLVs smell good to humans because they remind us of food: Vegetables release them when chopped and fruit releases them as it matures. In effect, we are genetically programmed to react positively to this smell, but the positive associations that many people have with these compounds can also be linked to childhood memories.

Known anecdotally as the Proust Phenomenon—so named for the French novelist Marcel Proust, “who was particularly interested in understanding the mechanics of his own being and the role memory played within it,” according to the book Smell, Memory, and Literature in the Black Country, edited by Sebastian Groes and R.M. Francis—this is what researchers refer to as olfactory nostalgia. Odors that evoke nostalgia have a positive impact on self-esteem, self-continuity, optimism, social connectedness, and a sense of meaning.

Odors that evoke nostalgia have a positive impact on self-esteem, self-continuity, optimism, social connectedness, and a sense of meaning.

Sauvignon Blanc’s wine aromas

Interestingly, the aldehydes hexanal and hexenal contribute to the aromas of freshly cut grass and tomato leaf found in Sauvignon Blanc, particularly that produced in New Zealand and the Loire Valley. The factors that contribute to making New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc so distinctly grassy are many, but one is its location in the Southern Hemisphere, where growing regions receive 30%–40% more ultraviolet (UV) light than do their counterparts in the Northern Hemisphere at similar latitudes.

In New Zealand, most of this UV is felt in the summer, but higher levels are present in the fall as well; meanwhile, cool coastal nights allow for long ripening while maintaining acidity. When combined with the approach of harvesting fruit at varying levels of ripeness, a production method that is now widely used in California, these factors can yield a blend with the level of grassiness and wine aromas desired for a particular style or brand.

According to Groes and Tom Mercer, with whom Groes cowrote a chapter on the Proust Phenomenon in the aforementioned book, the phenomenon’s wider significance lies in triggering strong, emotive childhood memories that we may have forgotten, in a sense reconnecting us with our former selves. This olfactory nostalgia is considered beneficial because it affords us the possibility of perspective and contemplation. The next time you’re swirling a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and appreciating its grassy aromas, take a moment to imagine your younger self and reflect upon what life choices, motives, and desires have brought you to today.

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