We have all seen the wine testers of the world pick up a glass of wine, swirl it about and then sniff it, closing their eyes as if they have gone somewhere that only they know where.  Just what are they doing?  They smell the wine to define it in terms that they know and understand.

It is often the scent of a wine that speaks volumes about the wine.  The reason the wine is swirled and teased about the glass is that it stirs up the molecules in the wine.  They dance and bang about and give off the aroma that a wine drinker will then identify.   You have heard that people say there is a touch of chocolate aroma in their wine.  Well no one dropped a chocolate chip there.  But my agitating the wine the molecules mixed in such a way that the smell came off as if one indeed did add a chocolate.

The sense of taste is actually very limited as it can only taste four flavors, though some have tried to add the last and fifth one:
The tongue has a heck of time trying to figure out some flavors, such as mint or pepper.  This is the job of the smeller, your nose.  That is why your foods do not ever seem to taste the same or even good when you have a upper respiratory infection or allergy.  Without your nose in a healthy condition it is almost impossible to truly taste whether a wine is good bad or otherwise.

Thus the key is to not have a nose problem and take your glass of wine and swirl it about.  Don’t spill it just tease it against the insides of the glass.  As you do this the molecules climb into the air and when you sniff they go up your nose, past the hair that protects you from dirt and dust, and they match with a like molecule and thus you identify it by the little bulb sensors located just under the bridge of your nose on the inside.  How cool is that?

We can smell up to 10,000 different kinds of smells and of course like most things as we grow older it gets harder to put a name to what we smell.

There are 8 basic types of smell:
It is now time to take your glass of wine, lift and swirl and smell the flavors and aromas of the wine that you are drinking.  When you mind is engage with your sense of smell you will be surprised at what you can identify.