Wine 101 - Nose of Wine

Actually 2/3 of the perceptions of a wine tasting come from the nose. Our nose can detect a wide range of smells, but whether our brain has the ability (or training) to filter, identify, and evaluate differentiate a good wine taster with the general public.

To release as much of the aroma molecules from the wine as possible, we need to swirl the glass, then dip your nose into the glass and breathe in the vapor. In fact, by the spectrum of aromas it gives wine taster a clue to the grape variety, location, method of fermentation and maturation, and age of the wine.

In order to help you to detect all the aromas, it is always good to concentrate on groups of aromas. First I would suggest trying to detect the fruity ones. In white wine, typically you may get apple, lemon, peach, pineapple, pear... And in red wine, you may detect berries, cherries, plum and so on. Secondly the vegetal and floral notes of flowers, grasses, leaves can be focused on. By these two main areas it can probably give you the idea of the grape variety, and for a simple wine the aromas fall mostly under these two categories.

In the professional world the word 'bouquet' refers to aromas not merely fruity or vegetal but also reflect the terroir, vintage, method of maturation and age of a wine. For white wines, this extended to the range of honey, butter, vanilla, cedar, minerals. More complex range includes various spices, chocolate, coffee, smoke. Some rather unusual aromas are also present in wine, like petrol, wet wool and varnish. A really great wine will have a balance of different aromas, not just only one or two.

In WSET level 4 we are required to write a tasting note on the following:

a. Condition (clean / unclean)

b. Intensity

c. Development

d. Aroma characteristics

Personally I have bought a set of the tasting kit for training my nose. They are expensive but really can give you a good idea of the different aromas and is a great help in training your nose. More importantly, if you don't know how liquorice smells, for example, how can you detect it?