Tip 5
Chip says:
“Well, it’s week three of our overview of deductive tasting, and we have moved on to a part of wine tasting that the majority of you are probably at least acquainted with, smell. Surely you have all seen people swirling wine around a glass and then sticking their nose down into the glass to get a big whiff of what’s in the wine.
The big question here is, why are you going through this somewhat strange looking process?
Ultimately, it’s because your nose, not your tongue, is what enables you to “taste” so many different things. In smelling (or nosing as fancy folks say) a wine, it is important to continue to use a structured process to think about what you are smelling.
There are two major steps you can take to get better at thinking about what you are smelling:
1. Think about smell in categories. For instance, common categories used for white wines are citrus, apple/pear, stone fruits, and tropical fruits. In addition to the fruit categories you can have categories for non-fruit smells also.
2. Once you have categories, put together short lists for each category to use as a reference while you get familiar with using the process. You’ll be surprised how quickly you begin to have an easier time thinking of what it is you are smelling.
More detail will be on the website if you are interested. Happy tasting!."