Food and wine are best enjoyed when all five senses are attuned to the feast. For wine that means dwelling on the colors radiating from the glass, from the pale yellow of a Riesling to the dark crimson of a Cab, then detecting the myriad of aromas in the wine’s nose. These steps prepare the palate for the intense aromas and mouthfeel the first sip provides. Those first inhalations define the aroma and bouquet of the wine.
One of the best ways to improve and sharpen the detection of these scents is to use the wine aroma wheel, developed by Dr. Ann Noble at U.C. Davis. The wine aroma wheel consists of three concentric circles divided into segments for different classes of both bouquet and aroma. Bouquet is defined as aromas resulting from fermentation, and the aging in barrel and bottle. Yeast-induced flavors from the fermentation and the methodology employed will add numerous flavorings to the wine. Oak, for example, supplies aromas of vanilla, cloves, and coconut.
Aroma, as it applies to wine, consists of odors produced by the grape variety, such as berry and black pepper in Merlot. Finally, “off” odors identify defects in the wine, such as the Sherry nose produced by oxidized wines. An oxidized wine is one that has been exposed to air for too long, resulting in oxygen combining with the liquid and spoiling it. One hopes that defects will be absent when wine is sampled, but a long lugubrious list of these are on the wheel as well. Alas, not all wine comes out of the bottle in perfect condition. Most open up and recover, but some are DOA. Detecting them is a sad but necessary task.
The Wine Aroma Wheel website contains a primer on using the wheel as well as a link to a downloadable PDF file that describes how to create a wine aroma kit. This is an inexpensive way to begin the sensory experience of identifying wine aromas. Professional wine aroma kits were the topic of this article. To find out how to use the wine aroma wheel click here.
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