Oxidative aroma compounds: style or fault

The standard

A wine shows controlled oxidative aromatics when its oxygen contact is deliberately dosed and its amount and timing are fixed. Without this control, the same substance turns from a feature into a flaw.

Criteria

• The oxygen contact is dosed, not accidental
• Amount and timing are fixed and reasoned
• The resulting note is part of the style, not its loss
• The boundary to a fault is named, not left to chance

Distinction

Oxidative aroma compounds ≠ oxidation as a fault: the same substances arise in both, controlled they are style, uncontrolled a flaw. Oxidative ≠ reductive aroma compounds: the former form under oxygen, the latter under its exclusion, and controlled oxidative aromatics therefore separate the intended from the spoiled.