Wine and Dine
The Nose Knows
By Holly Howell

I love the word “bouquet.”= It brings to mind a big bunch of colorful, aromatic flowers, perhaps being carried down the aisle, or just sitting beautifully in a vase on the deck of a summer cottage.

Bouquet is a word that is used for wine too, along with words like “aroma” and “nose.”  Believe it or not, all three words have different meanings in the world of wine. We’d hate to make it easy, right? I always thought that a wine’s bouquet was just made up of lots of aromas (like the flower bouquet), and a nose was the thing in the middle of your face. Alas, if it were only that simple.

Let’s start with aroma. It’s a smell. According to the dictionary, it is a fragrance in plants, perfume, or flavor.  Good enough. But what does that mean for wine? The aroma in a wine originates from the grape itself. Aha. There is the key. When you are talking about smells in wine, the aroma is the pure, simple, fruity smell of the grape variety. Aromas are not a result of the winemaking process, but come from the inherent odors of the grape itself. Aroma is most prevalent in younger wines, where it usually manifests itself as the smell of ripe fruit (e.g. citrus, berry, tree fruit, or tropical fruit).

Just to give you some examples, the following are aromas you may smell in the corresponding wines.  White wine, like Chardonnay, could smell like apple; Sauvignon Blanc, like grapefruit; Riesling, peach.  Red wine, like Pinot Noir, may smell like cherry; Cabernet Sauvignon, like black currant; Merlot, plum; and Shiraz like blueberry.

So much for aroma. Now, on to bouquet. The bouquet of a wine is the complex fragrance that develops during the winemaking process. The bouquet is created as the wine is fermenting, and also during the barrel and bottle aging. These odors are not usually associated with the grape itself, but, instead, are the result of the procedures of winemaking (as in the type of yeast used, the type of oak barrels, the length of time in the barrels, and the age of the bottle when it is consumed). The most common bouquet descriptors fall into the categories of herbaceous, earthy, nutty, toasty, and floral smells.

Again, here are examples of bouquets you may smell in the following wines.  For Chardonnay, anticipate the smell of toast; Sauvignon Blanc, a chalky odor; Riesling, a jasmine fragrance. In Pinot Noir, it’s mushroom.  Cabernet Sauvignon can be tobacco and Merlot, mint. Shiraz can have a wonderful smoky bouquet.

Two down. Bring on the nose. If you remember this, you will know the answer to wine’s one hundred dollar question: the nose of a wine is a combination of the aroma and the bouquet.

So, the nose of a Chardonnay may smell of apple and toast. Simple. Well, at least reading it in a description is simple. Actually describing it yourself while drinking the wine is the more difficult part. It takes practice. So I suggest beginning now. Each time you enjoy a glass of wine, before you sip, give it a nice swirl, and let the wine’s nose open up a little bit. Then stick your own human nose into the glass and take a few short sniffs.  Beyond the smell of good wine, what else is there? 

It is just like smelling each separate flower in a lovely bouquet. It’s fun and gives you a minute to really appreciate what is in your glass. Plus, you just may get good at it. Who “nose?”

Certified sommelier Holly Howell teaches wine and food classes for Casa Larga Vineyards, Rochester Institute of Technology, and her parents’ cooking school in Mendon, New York. Contact her at wineanddine@mountainhomemag.com.