Long Distance Smelling in Wine Tasting

"Now I'm going to show you the fourth and final step in wine smelling. Remember the first steps; swirl the wine, bottom of the glass, top of the glass, middle of the glass. The last step is to do a long distance sniff, about an inch or two above the top of the glass. When we swirl a glass of wine, certain aromas are very volatile, or they're very easily absorbed into the air, and are flying out of the glass very quickly. We also want to capture those when we smell our wine, so we're going to lean over the glass, leave our nose about an inch or two above the rim of the glass, and breathe deeply. You can use either the long inhale; like this, or the short, quick inhale. As a matter of fact, use them both. Swirl the wine, leave it like this, nose above the glass, nice long inhale, or short, quick inhales. Usually what will be drawn out of a wine glass like that is something kind of chemical. These can be the aromas, maybe the aroma of plastic or new car smell, or leather, or wet dog, or something kind of ammonia-like; like paint thinner, like varnish, or nail polish remover. I know that doesn't sound very good, but those are all typical descriptors of wine, and don't worry, it won't taste like that. As a matter of fact, if you breathe deeply above the top of the glass two or three times, those aromas will dissipate, and you'll be able to smell the other wines even sturdier. So the fourth step; a long distance sniff. Don't forget it."