AbstractThe aroma profiles of Oregon Pinot Noir wines were investigated with aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA). The wines were extracted with pentane‐diethyl ether, the aromas were distilled using solvent‐assisted flavour evaporation (SAFE) and separated into acidic/water‐soluble and neutral/basic fractions. In the acidic/water‐soluble fraction, 2‐phenylethanol and 3‐methyl‐1‐butanol showed the highest AEDA values, followed by 2‐methylpropanoic acid, butanoic acid, 2‐methylbutanoic acid, 3‐methylbutanoic acid, 2‐methylpropanol, hexanol, trans‐3‐hexenol, cis‐3‐hexenol, benzyl alcohol, 3‐methylthio‐1‐propanol, 3‐ethylthio‐1‐propanol, linalool and geraniol (all with FD ≥ 64). In the neutral/basic fraction, ethyl 2‐methylpropanoate, ethyl butanoate, 3‐methylbutyl acetate, ethyl hexanoate, and benzaldehyde had very high AEDA values (all with FD ≥ 64), followed by ethyl 3‐methylbutanoate, 3‐methylbutyl 2‐methylpropanoate, ethyl octanoate, ethyl decanoate, benzyl acetate, phenylethyl formate, phenylethyl acetate, ethyl dihydrocinnamate, ethyl anthranilate, 3‐methylthio‐1‐propanal, citronellal, whisky lactone and γ‐nonalactone (all with FD ≥ 16). Overall, the results indicated that there is no single compound that characterizes the aroma of Pinot Noir, and that the characteristic aroma comes from a blend of numerous compounds. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.