The Nose Knows

Every year during the holidays, the family hosts a wine tasting party. The purpose is to share good wine and enjoy each other in a festive environment. Each year, there is a challenge regarding varietal and matching wines to their profile. There is always a variation on the theme to pique everyone’s interest and to learn something new.

This year was no different, interesting people and a friendly, inviting environment. There were six wines, all different varietals along with descriptors to match each one to. The tasting is blind, with each bottle of wine placed in a paper bag with a number.

One would think that the most important aspect in identifying the different wines would be the taste, yet consider that one of the most critical aspects is the nose. What does that mean? The nose is the main source of our sense of taste. While we can only taste five distinct flavors (sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and savory), we can smell hundreds of thousands of distinct aromas. Remember the last time you had a head cold and couldn’t smell a thing? Food did not taste very good, if you could taste it at all. Test this out by holding your nose and taking a sip of wine.

So back to the family wine tasting. As I was preparing for the wine tasting, I was talking about the importance of the sense of smell with our young nephew, who is not yet old enough to enjoy wine. He was intrigued by the idea and decided to join in for the challenge. He did not drink the wine, yet took a sample of all and used only his sense of smell. On the second wine, he declared, “Green apple, lime!”  — which was perfect as he nailed the Sauvignon Blanc. This was very exciting for him to discover, as we unveiled the wines and revealed the correct matches.

Consider that all he did was read the general descriptors of the wines and explore what was in the glass with his sense of smell. This is a perfect example of the importance of the aromas in the glass for the pleasure of the taste. It is an invitation to really enhance what you find in a wine by giving yourself the opportunity to take in the “nose” of your wine. The nose knows!

Enjoy!