
· By Elena Whitehead
How to smell wine like a pro
In the wine world, what’s often referred to as the “nose” or “aroma” simply means the smell of the wine. Giving it a good sniff before you sip is crucial because our sense of smell does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to processing aromas. Fun fact: your tongue is kind of a slacker—it can only detect sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. The real magic happens in your nose. So, let’s break down how to sniff wine like a pro in a few easy steps.
Give It a Swirl
Step one of smelling wine: swirl it like you mean it. That little wrist-twisting motion releases all those delightful aromas into the air, making it easier to pick them up. Swirl your glass for about 10 seconds, then stick your nose in and breathe normally (no need for dramatic sniffing).
How to Recognise Smells
At first, all wine might just smell like… wine. That’s normal. With practice (and a bit of patience), you’ll start picking up on subtle differences. Think of it like learning a new language - but instead you're decoding fruit and flowers.
To start, break it into categories. For white wines, does it smell tropical, like pineapple or lychee, or is it more floral? With red wines, are you getting strawberries and plums, or is it darker, like blackberries or mulberries?
Take our Fiano as an example. If you were describing its nose, you’d pick up aromas leaning towards tropical—think lychee—rather than floral notes.
As your sniffer gets sharper, you might even start identifying specific scents, like whether that citrus note leans more lemon or pink grapefruit.
Types of Aromas
- Primary Aromas: These come from the grapes themselves and can range from fruity (cherry, apple) to floral (elderflower) to earthy (fresh-cut grass). Climate and grape variety play a big role here.
- Secondary Aromas: These are fermentation-derived—basically, what the winemaking process brings to the table. Think nuts, butter, vanilla, or cedar.
- Tertiary Aromas: These develop during ageing. Now we’re talking roasted nuts, cocoa, coffee, tobacco, leather, and even baking spices. Oak ageing, in particular, can give you vanilla or coconut vibes.
The Crew’s Top Tips
- Avoid wearing strong perfume or cologne—it’s a one-way ticket to aroma confusion.
- Don’t sniff too hard; you’re not a vacuum cleaner.
- If your wine smells like cabbage or wet dog, it might be faulty (not a feature—just poor oxygen management).
- Try smelling wine with friends. You’ll often find someone points out a smell you hadn’t noticed, and suddenly it clicks.