Monoterpenes are considered to be one of the major classes of volatile flavour components in many grapevine cultivars and are characteristic of fruity and floral white wines. The purpose of this study was to compare seasonal variation in monoterpene levels of different grape cultivars and characterise metabolic pathway genes leading to monoterpene production. Grape cultivars with different aromatic attributes (high to low aroma) and non-aromatic cultivars were collected at different stages during several seasons from our experimental vineyard in Geisenheim. Monoterpenes were extracted using solid phase extraction (SPE) and analysed by GC/MS. This study focused on major monoterpene alcohols linalool, geraniol and α-terpineol. In this study putative grape monoterpene synthase genes from several cultivars were sequenced and their potential for marker-assisted breeding assessed.