Olfactory Perception Exercises with Le Nez du Vin 54 - The Masterkit
“This wine has nose of green apple, fresh citrus peel, lime zest, rose, honey, petrol, and steely minerality.”
What could this wine be? If your answer is Riesling, that is definitely one of the top answers to the descriptions above. A seasoned wine taster can narrow down, or even pin point the grape variety, even production region and vintage - all on the nose. In the very beginning of my wine journey, my note probably looked more like this:
“This wine has notes of lime and citrus.” And that’s it!
Aside from the colour, viscosity, and other structural elements of the wine, a lot of the descriptions of any wine requires a fine tuned olfactory perception. Reason why it can look amazing watching a pro blind taste because it definitely seems impossible to the uninitiated. The fact is, wine appreciation is just a journey that is much less taken in comparison to other hobbies or professions such as art or music. However, much like being able to name an artist through the styles and expressions used in any form of art, anyone can do it with proper guidance and practice! Since the subject matter involves wine, this skill normally does not get explored until much later in life. Visual art and music connects the mind with what you see, hear and touch. Taste and smell are two less developed senses in our normal upbringing unless you were born in a culinary family for example. Imagine how much more we can experience and appreciate if we go through life having greater command of all five of our senses!
It has been scientifically proven that human can detect 1 trillion different smells! It is really a matter of having the key to unlock your true potential.
Almost 5 years ago, in the beginning of my wine journey, I found this great companion to help me improve my tasting skills, Le Nez du Vin 54 - The Master Kit by Jean Lenoir. Hand crafted in France, this beautiful kit contains aromas in 5 different categories: Fruity, Floral, Vegetal, Animal, and Toasty. Through vinegrowing and winemaking process, flavour profile in wine can be divided into three stages: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary.
I am very happy to be able to offer these kits with you. Hopefully you can get as much pleasure out of them as I did! Proceed to the Store to get yourself started!
Primary Aromas are flavours from the grape. This tells you the growing condition and wine making process to bring out the natural flavours of the berries. Fruity, Floral, and Vegetal aromas you can identify in the wine are mostly Primary aromas. They give you the first indicator for what grape variety the wine may be. With more practice, you can even tell where the grapes are possibly grown based on the flavour profile brought out by the terroir.
Secondary Aromas are flavours due to winemaking decisions. This tells you what other techniques are possibly used during making of the wine. This can include processes like Malolactic Conversion (process that turns malic acid to lactic acid to mellow acidity and introduce dairy notes), Lees (often found in Chardonnay. It gives yeasty and pastry notes and improve mouthfeel), or oak influence (toasty smokey notes). Animal and Toasty aromas in wine are likely Secondary aromas. They can give you hints for whether the wine is, for example, Spanish or French wine (French Oak vs American Oak), Chablis or Napa Valley Chardonnay (level of lees contact, malolactic conversion, and oak usage).
Tertiary Aromas are those of maturity. This tells you how developed the wine is. Generally, the older the wines are, the more Tertiary aromas there will be. Primary and Secondary aromas will eventually evolve and harmonize into matured versions of themselves. Notes like fresh fruits can become dried fruits, flower petals can become potpourri, and fresh mushrooms can become that delicious savoury truffle. This is where you can start adding additional descriptors to all the 5 different flavour categories in The Masterkit.
Last thing to note, there are a lot more different flavour profiles that can exist in wine. What is included in The Masterkit will definitely help you start getting better at wine tasting. The aroma that actually exist in the wine will most likely not be exactly like what you can find in the Masterkit but they will be similar enough. Through the exercises I share in this blog, you will acquire the ability to identify, isolate, and describe hundreds of flavours present by smelling and tasting. Hopefully, this will also motivate you to search for new wines and experiences to become a true connoisseur of wine. Do not get ahead of yourselves by trying to guess what the wine is quite just yet - that will come later.
Go buy some bottles of wine and let’s get started!
Here are some wine recommendations to get things going as these have more pronounced and recognizable notes:
Aromatics Whites: Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris
Fruity Reds: Beaujolais, Australian Shiraz, California or Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon
Olfactory Perception Exercises
Exercise 1: Identification
Have a partner pick out random bottles from The Masterkit
Smell through and name each
Refer to the flashcard or guide book to find out what wines can have these aromas
Identify these aromas in the actual wine.
This part can also be a party game. Challenge each other to identify as many aromas as you can. Have someone else pick out 3 to 5 bottles from The Masterkit so you can smell through them blind. Once you have identify them, smell the wines suggested from the flash card or the guide book and try to find the same aromas - this takes you into the second exercise: Isolation. Drink the wines and try to find the same flavours through taste or just drink the wines and appreciate them. I did say it can be a party game right?
Exercise 2: Isolation
Smell a bottle from Le Nez du Vin
Find the same smell in the wine
Refer to the flash card or guide book and commit that to memory
Repeat
Much like listening to a symphonic orchestra. By knowing and be familiar what each instrument sounds like, you can then learn to isolate the music into Melody, Bass, Percussion. Focus on different “timbre” and being able to tell the difference between each. It is more about state of mental clarity than the act of smelling. Tune out all the noise and search your memory to pin point that smell. Start from bottle No. 1 and try to find that smell in the wine. The goal is to learn how to quickly shift your focus between the different aroma categories. Use the reference book and flash cards that come with The Masterkit to know whether the aroma can typically be found in a red or a white so you won’t try to find lemon notes in an Australian Shiraz.
Exercise 3: Description
Smell the wine
Mentally cycle through the aroma categories
Identify and write down what you smell from the wine
Verify by smelling the specific bottles you have identified from Le Nez du Vin
Add intensity and additional characteristics to the flavours you are describing
Have you been to a wine tasting when you “think” you have smelled certain aromas only when another person told you that it is in the wine? When you hear words like green apple or black berry, you subconsciously isolated all other aroma just so you can also “smell” the same thing. Smelling by hearsay happens to even the best of us. By practicing to identify and describe what you are actually smelling is kind of like mentally guiding yourself through the aroma categories. Once you have gotten comfortable with singling out and identifying the flavours, smell the wine and in your mind, start cycling through the Fruit, Floral, Vegetal, Animal, and Toasty notes. You will need enough repetition to commit the aromas to memory. This will allow enough anchors to tie each aroma to what you are actually smelling. Write them down and then verify later by smelling the bottles from The Masterkit. Once you have gotten more comfortable with this exercise, try adding additional descriptors to the aromas. Is the aroma just a hint or very pronounced, is it fresh or decaying, is it ripen or not, do you like it? What scenery does the wine remind you of?
Nothing is easy, but one thing definitely true about wine tasting is that the more you taste with intent the better you will get. Once you have gotten a hang of the exercises above, you will have enough anchor to go on. The more you know about the production regions of the world, the better you will definitely get with being able to identify the wine down to the grape variety, production region and even vintage. You will be one of those wine connoisseurs people aspire to become.
At the end of the day, wine appreciation is about getting deeper experience out of each and every bottle you purchase and consume. This can potentially be an expensive hobby, but by having a better command of your senses you will always get more value out of the same bottle than others. You will also be able to find those inexpensive hidden gems that will get you just as much pleasure as a $100 bottle.
