Wine and Dine

How to Taste Wine? The Nose Knows By Holly Howell

You can’t really taste wine until you learn how to smell it first. Our sommelier talks about the finer points of sniffing your glass of grape.

When I went to my first official wine tasting, I was told to swirl the wine, lift the glass to my nose, sniff the “bouquet,” and describe what I smelled.

I shook the glass. I shoved my nose in. I took one big, long, exhausting inhale. Okay, so my nose hurt for the rest of the night, but that’s when I first realized that I had a gift. I actually picked out an aroma. I distinctly smelled “grape.” I was so proud.

Then the person directly to my left sniffed his glass—three short, little sniffs—and I wondered, What kind of custom is that? Maybe he has a cold. This person thought for a moment and then commented, “I detect notes of butterscotch, vanilla, tropical fruit, and hazelnut, with a hint of citrus.”

Well then. I decided I must be hungry because I suddenly wanted food. I was sure that someone must have spilled something in his wine. What on earth was he talking about?

Although I left that tasting somewhat discouraged about my sensory abilities, I did not give up. Over time (much time), I learned how to appreciate the aromas in wine. The smells in wine are often reminiscent of those we find in fruits, herbs, flowers, and spices.

I used to picture that the creative winemakers kept a secret stash of flavor extracts in their cupboards. Perhaps, when all is quiet around midnight, they sneak into their cellars and start blending some vanilla, cherry, or licorice extracts into their barrels.

Not so. The wine does it all on its own. Wine is basically fermented grape juice. During fermentation, the yeast converts the natural sugars in the grape juice into carbon dioxide and alcohol. As a result of fermentation and subsequent aging, the wine creates chemical compounds that are known as aromas. These are the same exact compounds we smell in everyday things such as melons, mint, mushrooms, and mangos. A smell is a compound that we sense with our noses.

So how do you even start to identify aromas in wine? Here’s a tip. Think of wine as food. Close your eyes. Don’t imagine a glass of wine under your nose. Imagine it could be a new recipe. What ingredients can you pick out in this dish? Try to go beyond the smell of wine and imagine food.

A great tool to use when your first start tasting wine is the Wine Aroma Wheel, developed at the University of California at Davis by Ann C. Noble in 1990. It lists most of the predominant aromas in wine, and is the ultimate cheat sheet when it comes to wine descriptions. It can really help you to identify what you are smelling. You can find copies in many wine books or on the Internet.

Another hint to developing a good lexicon of wine aromas in your head is to simply start smelling everything. When you cut up a green pepper for your salad, smell it. When you pick fresh raspberries, break one apart and just smell it. When you slice up a Granny Smith apple for your pie, smell it. Log these aromas into your brain and you’ll be surprised how soon they will start to appear in your wine.

You may smell a memory in your wine. For example, something in your red wine reminds you of your grandma’s kitchen. She loved to bake and used a lot of spices. Yes, that’s it. A note of clove is coming out of your pinot noir.

Your white wine smells like your backyard in summer, right after you mow the lawn. Yes, that fresh grassiness is popping right out of your sauvignon blanc.

Maybe your white wine reminds you of the beach. It could be a piña colada or your Hawaiian Tropic Tanning Lotion. Yes, it’s the pineapple-banana scent of a New World chardonnay.

This rustic red reminds me of my ex-boyfriend. Ughh. Yes, that is a hint of tobacco in my syrah. (I still like the wine).

Anyway, you see how it goes. Don’t ever feel that you are required to smell anything at all. However, part of the enjoyment of wine is to take your time and really discover your wine. Sit back and smell the roses, if you will. You’ll find that the aroma of wine is just as intriguing as the taste itself. Cheers!

A certified sommelier, Holly Howell teaches wine and food classes for Casa Larga Vineyards, Rochester Institute of Technology, and her parents’ cooking school “The Seasonal Kitchen” in Mendon, N.Y. She also writes about wine and food for The Rochester Democrat Chronicle. You can contact her at wineanddine@mountainhomemag.com.