Behind the Vines

Smell It Up

by Farley on February 2nd, 2008

I’ve mentioned in past posts that you should be ‘practicing’ your nose every chance you get. Sniff those spices, go crazy in the produce section, etc.  That’s why I had so much fun with the component analysis seminar I co-taught on Wednesday evening.  Getting ready for it was a great deal of work, but it wasn’t a chore—I had the best time pulling open jars, brewing tea, cooking bacon, smashing fruit, and even crushing rocks (needed to represent the minerality and graphite in the Pickett Road Petite Sirah). Our enologist had ordered plastic cups, which I filled with spices, tobacco, liquid smoke, coconut milk, and more.  After the presentation and a couple of fun experiments, we began to pour the wine and ask what aromas or flavors people were recognizing.  If someone called it out and I happened to have an example (which I usually did since there were around forty components), we’d give one to each of the two tables, and everyone would sniff and pass them down.  And if they didn’t mention the smells that I associate with the six wines, I’d send those down as well.

I know this isn’t somthing you’d want to do every day, but it might be fun for a group tasting.  You could even break the list into sections and have each person bring five or so. It helps for those times you sit there scratching your head trying to decide what that scent is or recall just what a red currant smells like. Besides, as I told the class, the more memories you have connected to a smell, the easier it comes to you when you find it in wine.

 This was the second seminar in our series, so if you live in the Bay Area, check out the schedule and see if any of the other topics strike your fancy.  So far, everyone in attendance has seemed to have a marvelous time, and I plan to do my best to make certain that continues.

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POSTED IN: East Bay wine happenings, fun wine excursions