The Nose Knows: Part 2

The sense of smell is critical for taste  – whether it be when tasting food or wine. Remember, we can discern 10,000 different smells, at a minimum. A recently published paper touts that we can distinguish up to 1 trillion smells! The second number is a mathematical extrapolation, not based on a human study. Either way you look at it, we can discern a lot of smells. It again makes the point of how important wine aromas are and just how much they factor into the pleasure.

Why do I bring this up again? Well, one of the first places to be using that super sense of smell is in the glass before you pour the wine. The glass itself (not the wine) may often be the source of what we perceive as off odors or spoiled wine. The first thing I do is smell the glass to ensure that it is clean and free of any off-putting aromas itself.

Karen MacNeil, author of the Wine Bible, has a great 2-minute clip that makes the point clearly, and I wanted to share it with you.

Enjoy!