How to Describe the Smells in a Wine
Learning how to accurately describe the aroma and bouquet of a wine is an imperative skill for the budding wine connoisseur. Once you know the right words to use, you can impress all of your friends at the next cocktail party.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Easy
Instructions
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1
Consider the wine's aroma. The aroma is the scent of the grapes themselves. A Reisling, for example, has an "apple" aroma, while a Pinot Noir has a "cherry" aroma.
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2
Smell the bouquet of the wine. The barrel and length of time a wine is aged, can cause the wine to develop a smell of chocolate, vanilla, caramel or coffee. When describing a white wine, consider that it's aged for less time and is more likely to have the smell of caramel or vanilla. A darker wine has a deeper bouquet, such as coffee.
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3
Use words like "brilliant" and "clean" to describe the look of the wine. These words also describe a wine with smells that aren't offensive, and apply to white or sparkling wines. "Cloudy" describes a wine that has a dull appearance and smells old, or like the cork.
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4
Describe the overall smell of a red wine that has a full body aroma but lacks any finesse to its taste with a word like "broad." Label a sweet white wine with no acidity to its scent as "cloying."
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Tips & Warnings
Place your nose over the wineglass and take a deep breath in to savor the aroma, for 3 to 5 seconds, before you begin to describe it.
