How to Smell Wine

You’ve mastered looking at and swirling your wine, now it’s time to dive into the wonderful aromas and notes of the beverage.

Smell is an essential part of understanding and analyzing the characteristics of the wine you’re tasting. In all actuality, if you did not have the sense of smell, the only taste you would actually recognize would be sweet, salty, acidity, and bitterness. Have you ever had a stuffy nose, and noticed that you couldn’t really taste anything other than the basics? This is the power of the aromas and notes throughout our everyday lives. Let’s take a look at how to properly smell your wine so that you can determine the various notes and quality.

Smelling wine properly

Believe it or not, there is a proper (and detailed) way to smell the wine you are about to enjoy. It’s not to say that you won’t enjoy the wine if you don’t do this, however, it will certainly enhance the experience and prepare your body and mind for the delectable beverage you are about to consume.

First, without swirling the wine, stick your nose completely into the slightly tilted glass. The glass should almost touch the bottom of your nostrils. This first smell, with very little disturbance from the wine, will show you initial aromatics that will be hidden once disturbed.

Now, swirl that wine! But only a few swirls. You can lose the the phenolic compounds if you swirl too much, ultimately neutralizing the wine. Then, place the wine back to the nose with the glass angled at 45-50 degrees and sniff. Move your nose around in the glass until you find the sweet spot where all of the scents are located.

What do you smell?

Smells are produced by multiple factors throughout the production process. From the maceration of the grapes, to fermentation, to how it is aged, notes and the bouquet are developed.

Chemical reactions that make this beautiful bouquet are the amazing chemical reactions with the acids, sugars, alcohols and phenolic compounds. These reactions produce the cream, vanilla, cinnamon, fruits, herbs, and even the mineral notes you get when you smell wine.

A human can remember over 10,000 memories of unique smells throughout his or her life. When smelling wine, the olfactory bulb senses these chemical compounds and translates them for your brain. What’s even more important is that 10 people tasting wine could pick up different things… there are no wrong answers! It’s all about what smells you smell the most.

The smell of the wine can also tell you if the wine is bad or has faults. Does the wine smell overly tart and vinegar-like? This could mean the wine is overly oxidized. Does it smell like a wet dog, moldy newspaper, or extremely strong of the towel you forgot in your car for months after a wet and muddy day at the park? The wine is probably ‘corked’ and will not be pleasant.