Who we are

We are a research lab focusing on understanding the chemical basis of aroma and taste, especially in the wine industry. In this field we are the most cited laboratory in the world.

Research interests

Our main research lines have taken us to the state of the art in the chemical analysis of sensory elements like aromas and tastes applied to Enology.

Services

We offer professional services tailored to your needs and based on the analysis of flavors. Also we offer research and consultancy about any subject related with this sector.

Improve your tasting skills

Welcome to the exciting world of wine aromas

The Laboratory for Aroma Analysis and Enology (LAAE) is a dynamic and innovative laboratory capable of exactly replicating true aromas found in wine. The commitment of LAAE to the wine world, its experience in sensory analysis, and education have made the production of this collection of genuine wine aromas possible.

This unique collection has been exclusively made with the natural aromatic molecules contained in wine. The collection has been designed to take the user back through the rich sensations felt during the wine tasting. Its making was inspired by the desire to help the user enjoy and understand the intricate mysterious details of wine tasting.

Our scientific experience has demonstrated how everyone has the capacity to enjoy wine and its tasting. With an effective training everyone can enjoy tangible progress in the language, sensory memory and sensitivity in the detection of wine aromas as far as they desire.

The team at LAAE invites you to awaken your olfactory sense and discover the molecules whose presence gives way to the marvelous sensations in wine.

Our team

Juan Cacho Palomar is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the Faculty of Science at the University of Zaragoza and also an enologist at the Regional Government of Aragon. He is the founder and former head of LAAE. His work in wine science started at the beginning of the 1980s studying the evolution of grape composition in Somontano. Later his research interests included color, aroma and flavor of wine with special interest in vinification processes and the recovery of autochthonous grape varieties.

Juan Cacho, EMERITUS PROFESSOR
Vicente Ferreira is a full professor at the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Zaragoza.
He is currently the head of LAAE. Throughout his 20 year professional career he has been well-known for his entrepreneurial spirit and perseverance when researching products or new methods.

Vicente Ferreira, FULL PROFESSOR
Ana Escudero is an associate professor at the University of Zaragoza and owner and enologist of Bodegas y Viñedos Ilurce (Alfaro, La Rioja). Belonging to a traditional wine producing family, she has been in contact with wine since her childhood. In her scientific career she has specialized in wine aroma analysis with olfactometry and sensory analysis. Her main research line is the understanding of the sensory role of the molecules involved in wine aroma.
Ana Escudero, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
An associate professor at the University of Zaragoza, Ricardo López has been working in wine aroma research during the last 20 years. His main research interests are focused on the development of new analytical methods for Aroma Chemistry and on the study of new enological additives and vinification routes.

Ricardo López, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
María Pilar Sáenz Navajas obtained her European PhD degree in 2011 under the supervision of Prof. V. Ferreira and Dr. P.Fernández-Zurbano at the University of La Rioja (Spain) with her thesis entitled: “Sensory interactions and chemical parameters responsible for the perceived quality of Spanish red wines”.
She obtained a postdoctoral fellowship (2011-2013) for developing her research career at the Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l´Alimentation at Dijon (France) focusing mainly on sensory analysis, perception, psychology and cross-cultural consumer studies under the supervision of Prof. D. Valentin. Since October 2013 she has been part of the LAAE, her main research line being the construction of models for predicting sensory (aroma and in-mouth) properties from chemical composition.

María Pilar Sáenz, RESEARCHER
Mónica Bueno holds a degree in chemistry and a master in Chemical Research. She is finishing her doctoral thesis dedicated to the influence of carbonyl compounds in oxidative phenomena.
Mónica Bueno
Arancha de la Fuente Blanco holds her phD in Chemistry, specialised such as flavorist. Her main research line being to understand flavor formation by building food and non-food model systems.
Arancha de la Fuente
Ignacio Ontañón obtained his PhD degree in Analytical Chemistry in 2015 at the University of Zaragoza with his thesis about analysis of volatile compounds and odours released from home appliances. Nowadays, his work is focused on the development of analytical methods for volatile compounds and on the study of reduction problem in wine.
Ignacio Ontañón Alonso

Cristina Peña is Oenologist and obtained a PhD in Chemistry in 1997. After starting in this group in the field of oenological and aroma research, she has worked for more than 25 years in cellar, producing wines of different types and handling different varieties, managing and controlling production and processing processes, chemical and sensory analysis of grapes, musts and wines, quality control of processes and management of work groups.

Cristina Peña
Elayma Sánchez Acevedo holds a degree in Chemistry from the University of Havana and a Master’s Degree in Applied Chromatographic Techniques from the Rovira i Virgili University. Her doctoral thesis is focused on the study of the molecules involved in the potential aromatic quality in grapes.
Elayma Sánchez

Diego Sánchez Gimeno holds a degree in food’s science and technology and a master in Quality, Safety and Food Technology. His doctoral thesis is focused on the behaviour of volatile sulphur compounds of wine, researching new strategies to remedy reduction off-odours.

Diego Sánchez

Jorge Cebollada is the laboratory technician of the group. He is in charge of carrying out the routine analysis and giving support to the experimental work of the group. He has 10 years of experience in the field of flavor analysis.

Jorge Cebollada
Chelo Ferreira is a lecturer at the University of Zaragoza. She is a mathematician and has a degree in psychology. She belongs to the Department of Applied Mathematics and is part of the team collaborating in the search for mathematical models for the sensory characterization of wine based on quantitative measurements obtained in the laboratory. Her most ambitious objective is the modelling of aromatic perception.
Chelo Ferreira
Alexis Marsol holds a PhD in Chemistry since 2017. His research career has focused on the development and application of chromatographic methods coupled to mass spectrometry to different agri-food matrices.
Alexis Marsol
Manuel Aragón holds a degree in Chemistry from the University of Zaragoza and a master’s degree in Food Quality, Safety and Technology. His doctoral thesis aims to understand the chemical-sensory keys behind the oxidative degradation of wine aroma.
Manuel Aragón
Susana Ainsa Zazurca completed a double degree in Marine Sciences and Biotechnology and a master’s degree in Applied Chromatographic Techniques. She is currently working on her PhD Thesis related to wine reduction problems, developing novel strategies to evaluate the size and chemical nature of the H2S and MeSH precursor pool.
Susana Ainsa