Smell Wine?

Have you ever wondered where people come up with the descriptions for what they smell in wine?
Does it sound pretentious?

I always thought so.  I thought there was a standard by which everyone could describe the wine and everyone would understand.

Yea, not so.  What smells like the oak door off an outhouse to me, may smell entirely different to someone else.

I just loved this article and wanted to share it with all of you.

The world of wine descriptors is an inexact science. Especially since every person seems to have a slightly different sense of taste. All the wine critic can do is to faithfully describe what is personally detected in the glass of wine.

You can enhance your sense of smell and taste by simply paying serious attention to it. And you can expand your olfactory ability in many ways, such as sniffing your spices and herbs in your kitchen or smelling exotic fruits at your grocery store.

My first daunting task as a newly hatched wine sniffer was being confronted with 30 almost identical California Chardonnays, all oaked, and struggling to describe what made each one unique. It requires more concentration than you might expect.

I got a real chuckle from a reader’s email the other night. She started by congratulating me on my great wine column. Then she confessed she never drinks wine or, for that matter, any kind of alcohol. No, she reads my column first every Saturday because she thinks it is hilarious, all those funny descriptors. She finds my column funnier than the comics.

I replied by thanking her for reading me and confessed I did try to entertain, as well as inform.

Most wine drinkers and regular readers recognize the descriptors I use because they encounter such smells and tastes in their everyday consumption of wine. So it is not alien territory or language from another planet to them.

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What it boils down to is this.  Tell people what it smells like to you.  Not what you think they want to hear.

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Article:  Smell Wine?
Original Source:  The Star
Author:  Gord Stimmel
 
 

If you’ve ever been to a wine tasting, you may recall that the food you ate was small (if there was food involved at all). A few crackers with cheese. Maybe a bit of chocolate or fruit here and there. There is no wine tasting that features goose or turkey, gravy or cranberries. Yet every holiday season people start to fret – just what wine should you serve with your main course?

Truth is, there are no hard and fast rules about pairing wine with such a giant meal. This is mostly because there are so many different flavors that while a red wine might go with a few items perfectly a white wine will match up with other items. You’re best off finding out what people like to drink and buying a few bottles to satisfy those palates and offer a little diversity.

If you do notice that you have predominately red wine foods, like a heavy stew or rich meats, by all means aim for red. With desserts, you may decide to switch things up and really go for a winning pair. Try to keep dessert wines nice and sweet so the dessert itself doesn’t overpower the wine. Fruity desserts are complimented well by acidic wines. If you have a nice dark chocolate dessert, look for a beautiful dark wine.

From general wine tastings to vertical or horizontal wine tastings, there are plenty of unique ways you can get together to enjoy wine.

A vertical wine tasting uses several different vintages. The limitation here is that all the wines will come from a single winery. If there are one or two wineries near you, this method is a fantastic way of comparing their wines. You can even narrow it down further if the winery produces enough wine to do so. If they make both red and white wines, you can compare both together if you like, or you can use just whites or just reds. You could also choose a single wine and then select different vintages.

This method is a great way to learn about the differences between a winery’s vintages and discover a little more about how they vary from year to year. Holding a wine tasting can be more interesting when there are 5 or 6 wines present. You may find a few new favorites with a vertical wine tasting. Be sure to take notes!

There are several different ways to hold a wine tasting. General, horizontal, or vertical. General wine tastings are essentially for whatever wines you wish, no limits.

Horizontal wine tastings, however, have more structure. When you host a horizontal wine tasting, it means all the wines chosen are of the same vintage. That is the main limitation. However, after choosing the vintage, you can either place more limitations on the wines involved or have none at all. For example, you may want all the wines to be red or you may want them all to be of the same grape variety. You can narrow down the selection even further if you wish, to specific regions or all of the above.

By limiting the wines in this fashion, you can easily compare vintages side by side to see how they measure up. Instead of varying the years, you are better able to actually compare the wineries the bottles come out of. Who knows? You or someone in your party may just find their newest favorite wine.

Whether you’ve been to a wine tasting yourself or listened to people talk at a wine tasting, you’ve certainly heard more than just, “This is a good wine.”  Wine is always described in different ways, from bold to buttery, sweet to spicy, and then some.  But wine is made from a few grape varieties – so how can they get all these different flavors?  How can a grape end up offering a wine a buttery flavor?

The simple answer is that it isn’t all from the grape.  Indeed, grapes offer plenty of the flavor to a wine, and their varying tastes and acidities can ensure that red wines all don’t taste the same, likewise for white wine.  Some will develop more sugars, others may end up with a drier form.  But grapes growing in vastly different areas will pick up on different flavors as well.  All the outside factors can come into play, from the amount of sunlight a grape gets to the mineral content of the soil.  The amount of yeast added to the process and the barrels that wine is stored in can also be huge influences.

So when you taste one chardonnay from France, don’t be surprised when it tastes completely different from a chardonnay from California.

Wine tasting can be a simple matter of enjoyment.  You visit a vineyard, taste some wine, decide which one you like the best, perhaps purchase a bottle, and return home to enjoy a bit of the vineyard in your dining room.  But for other people, wine tasting isn’t just about enjoying a good bottle.  It’s about discovery and knowing more about wineries and their creations.  It’s about what you taste in each mouthful.  That’s precisely where a wine journal can come in.

Wine journals vary in their style and how they are set up.  Most, however, will contain many of the same elements for you to record:

Date

Location

Wine Name

Producer

Vintage

Appearance

Aroma

Taste

These may be organized into different recording methods, from having boxes to check to allowing you lines to write on.  Take some time perusing different wine journals to decide upon the one you like the most.  Remember, you should also choose one that speaks to you; how portable do you want it?  How do you want to record your wines?

A wine journal can be an excellent way of remembering wines you loved and which ones simply didn’t work out for you.

Technology has certainly come a long way.  Wine tasting used to be simply about enjoying the wine and perhaps taking a few notes.  However, you can now take your iPhone along with you on your wine tasting jaunts and forget all about the pen and paper, using just your iPhone to record all those little nuggets of information about each wine you try.

WineTaster is an app developed specifically for wine lovers.  The app guides you through the entire wine tasting experience, allowing you to choose from plenty of options when it comes to recording information about the wine.  This includes the look of the wine, the smell, and of course, the taste.  There are plenty of options to choose from, various descriptions and explanations you can use to express your opinions about the wine.  You can even take pictures of the wine for future reference.

Once you are finished, you can easily have a whole list of different wines that you can always check back on next time you’re in the mood for a delicious Sauvignon Blanc or Merlot.  You can even publish your notes from the app into social media sites like Facebook.

Wine bars have become highly popular when it comes to simply hanging out and enjoying friends, food, and of course, a fine glass of wine.  From casual to highly chic, a wine bar has plenty to offer no matter what the occasion might be.

Big cities have a wide variety of wine bars to choose from.  Now, wine bars are inventing new ways to entertain customers.  Tasting rooms are expanding to include not just wines, but also cheese, beers, and other products or combinations.  Walking into a wine bar, you may smell the rich scent of coffee as well as see a large selection of wines to choose from.

Even lighting and interior décor can show off what sort of wine bar you have found.  Many wine bars opt for a relaxed and inviting atmosphere with comfortable seating and a restaurant-like appeal.  Others have looked toward different styles, such as outdoor French piazzas or cozy areas in small places.  Hip wine bars use rich lighting and specific color schemes to enhance their overall design.

Research your area and the different wine bars available before choosing your venue so you and your friends can have the best experience possible while enjoying your favorite glass of wine.

There are times when choosing just the right wine can be confusing or just downright frustrating.  People who are serious about their wine know exactly what to look for, whereas the casual wine drinker may feel lost in a store full of various bottles.

If you aren’t sure what to drink, you can let someone else make the choice for you.  There are dozens of wine clubs available that choose great wines to send to members each month.  Most wine clubs, such as the one offered by Food & Wine, allow you to pay a flat fee for 6 or 12 bottles of high quality wine.  This also allows you to control how much wine you get and how much you pay, leaving you without any locked-in commitment.

By joining a wine club, you can discover great new wines and learn a little more about what you like in the process.

Ladies, put your skills to the test at your next wine tasting engagement. Studies have shown that women tend to be better wine tasters than men. This is because women, especially those in their reproductive ages, actually have a better sense of smell than men do. A big part of wine tasting is smelling the wine for a fuller experience, and with a heightened sense of smell, you will be able to better appreciate the wine and all its subtle flavors.
Men, that means the next time your lady informs you that the wine has a hint of lavender or vanilla and you can’t taste it, rest assured that it really is there!