FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND NUTS / fruity · juicy · wine-adjacent
White Grape
Category
FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND NUTS
Subcategory
fruity · juicy · wine-adjacent
Origin
Volatility
Top–Heart
Botanical
Vitis vinifera L. (white cultivars — Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Chenin Blanc and many others), Vitaceae
Odor Strength
Medium
Producing Countries
Not applicable to the accord. Major Vitis vinifera growing regions (cultivars): France, Italy, Spain, USA, Argentina, Chile, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Portugal, Georgia (the ancestral domestication centre).
Pyramid
Top–Heart
A reconstructed accord — pale green-juicy, slightly floral, sometimes thiol-catty. The 'white grape' note in perfumery is built molecule by molecule and shifts profile depending on which cultivar the perfumer evokes: Concord-grape methyl anthranilate, Muscat-floral terpenes, or Sauvignon Blanc-thiol catty character.
Juicy-fruity top, with the cultivar choice determining the angle — rosy-terpenic (Muscat) or sharp-catty-thiol (Sauvignon) or methyl-anthranilate sweet (Concord).
After a few hours
After a few hours
The accord settles into a softer fruity-floral heart, with β-damascenone and ionone-rounding.
After a few days
After a few days
A faint sweet-floral memory; the grape character has mostly burned off.
The Full Story
White grape is Vitis vinifera L. (Vitaceae) — the species behind every classical European wine grape and most table grapes. The 'white' designation refers to skin colour: pale green to pale yellow at ripeness, distinct from the deep purple-black of red wine grapes (V. vinifera is the same species; cultivar selection makes the colour). Concord-type bubble-gum grape character belongs to a different species, Vitis labrusca, native to North America.
This note in Première Peau. Sample all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.
In perfumery
White grape has no commercial perfumery extract. The fruit's volatile profile is dominated by water-soluble esters and trace thiols that do not survive industrial extraction. Any 'grape' note in fragrance is therefore a reconstruction — and the choice of cultivar-direction shapes the entire accord [A]:
Concord-direction: methyl anthranilate (CAS 134-20-3) dominant — sweet, grape-skin, bubble-gum, the kind of 'grape' Americans recognise from candy.
Muscat-direction: linalool and α-terpineol heavy — rosy-floral, terpenic, the kind of grape that smells of orange blossom and rose.
Sauvignon Blanc-direction: 4-methoxy-2-methyl-2-butanethiol (CAS 86570-37-0) at parts-per-billion [B] — catty, leafy, faintly sulphurous, the kind of grape that smells of black-currant bud and grapefruit. Same fruit, three completely different aromatic registers.
Around the chosen cultivar signature, perfumers build β-damascenone for floral-fruity depth (the compound responsible for the cooked / aged note of fortified wines and pressed grapes), small ester palettes, and trace ionones for violet-rounding.
Grape seed oil
Grape seed oil (CAS 8024-22-4) — the cosmetic carrier oil pressed from grape pips — is nearly odourless and is not a fragrance ingredient. It is used in skincare for its high linoleic acid and vitamin E content. The fragrance accord and the cosmetic oil are different products from different parts of the same plant.
Sources & Notes
[A] PubChem CID 8635 — methyl anthranilate, CAS 134-20-3. The Concord-grape signature. Also occurs naturally in mandarin and orange-blossom absolute. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/8635.
[B] PubChem CID 11669880 — 4-methoxy-2-methyl-2-butanethiol (the 'cat ketone' / Sauvignon Blanc thiol), CAS 86570-37-0. Same compound defines black currant buds. pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/11669880.
Did You Know?
Did you know?
All wine grapes are the same species: Vitis vinifera. Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Muscat, Pinot Grigio, Chenin Blanc — every classical European wine grape is a cultivar of this single species, domesticated in the South Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, Turkey) approximately 8,000 years ago. The species' aroma chemistry varies enormously across cultivars because of small differences in volatile production: thiol-rich Sauvignon Blanc smells of cat and grapefruit; terpene-rich Muscat smells of roses; methyl-anthranilate-rich Concord (Vitis labrusca, a different species) smells of bubble gum. The same plant, the same fruit, three completely different aromatic registers.
Extraction & Chemistry
Extraction method: Not applicable. White grape has no commercial perfumery extract — the fruit's volatile profile is dominated by water-soluble esters and trace thiols that do not survive industrial extraction at meaningful concentration. Grape seed oil (CAS 8024-22-4) exists as a cosmetic carrier and culinary oil, but it is nearly odourless and used for emollient properties, not as a fragrance ingredient. The perfumery 'grape' note is always a reconstruction.
Not assigned to white grape as a perfumery material. No commercial extract exists. The note is reconstructed. Key compounds: methyl anthranilate (CAS 134-20-3) for Concord-style grape character; α-terpineol + linalool (Muscat type); 4-methoxy-2-methyl-2-butanethiol (CAS 86570-37-0) for Sauvignon Blanc thiol character; β-damascenone (CAS 23696-85-7) for floral-fruity depth.
Botanical Name
Vitis vinifera L. (white cultivars — Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Chenin Blanc and many others), Vitaceae
IFRA Status
Not applicable as a single material. Constituent reconstruction blocks each carry their own profiles: methyl anthranilate unrestricted at perfumery levels; linalool restricted (Cat 4 ~5% leave-on) as a potential sensitiser; β-damascenone unrestricted; the Sauvignon thiol used at parts-per-billion is unrestricted.
Synonyms
VITIS VINIFERA · TABLE GRAPE · WINE GRAPE · MUSCAT
Physical Properties
Odor Strength
Medium
In Perfumery
White grape in perfumery is a Fantasy/Concept accord, not an extracted material — no commercial grape essential oil exists. It sits in the top-to-heart, lending a juicy-floral lift and bridging citrus or floral openings to fruity heart notes. Reconstruction style varies sharply: Muscat-direction is rosier-terpenic; Sauvignon-direction is sharper-thiol; generic green-grape is ester-driven. Pairs naturally with rose, jasmine, melon and other reconstructed fruits.
