The art of wine tasting

One of the most traumatic experiences of novice wine drinkers is the crucial 'nose' test. Can you actually smell that "toasty brioche"? Can you distinguish between a "herbaceous" smell and a "cedar" one? Are those "fresh red fruit" aromas tickling your olfactory nerves? Or are you just not sure what it is that you’re smelling? I’d say, it’s more likely to be the latter.
The nose, of course, is the most important piece of equipment for a wine drinker. It ranks higher than even the tongue, and certainly more than the eye, though all three have to collaborate for the final verdict.
I often wonder whether it’s a genetic thing too — particularly since all those in the wine business seem to have distinctly long noses... “Does size matter?” I’ve often agonised, “Is my petite proboscis the cause of my doubts about wine aromas?”
Gallant Frenchmen and Italians in the wine business have reassured me that my nose in no way falls short of standards, but my dilemma with aromas persists. So I move to Theory 2: those guys are using the wrong words. Now THAT sounds more like it.
The words foreign “wine experts” use to describe aromas make no sense to the desi brain. Not enough, anyway. That was brought home to me once when I dropped in for a wine appreciation session conducted by an Australian wine rep.
“This has the distinct aroma of small goods,” he said in an Australian twang. The silence around the room signalled incomprehension to me; he thought it was agreement! When I told him later that neither I nor most people in the room had the foggiest notion what he was alluding to, he was genuinely surprised — and promised to be more culture-specific in his comparisons in future.
For the record, “small goods” means cured meats in Aussie-speak! That did it. From then on, I have been a crusader for an Indian dictionary of smells especially if wine experts move beyond broad descriptions like flowery and fruity to black cherry or lavender.
Even the thickest person in Provence may know the smell of lavender but unless you love talcum powder, you’re unlikely to encounter it here. As for black cherries, they are only available as imports here and my upmarket grocer stocks them for Rs 900 per kg, which works out to Rs 10 per cherry.
Some of the most popular words to describe aromas are honey (for Sauternes or other sweet white wines), mineral and peach (Chablis), oak (red Bordeaux), toasty (Champagne) apple (Chardonnay) apricot (Sémillon), black fruit (older red wines), berries (young reds) black currant (Cabernet Sauvignon, Pauillac, St Estèphe), citrus (warmer Chardonnays), figs (Sémillon), melon (some Rieslings) pear (older whites) red fruits or raspberry ( Beaujolais) and strawberry (younger pinot noirs and pinotages).
Going beyond fruits, there’s cloves and truffles (older Bordeaux), chestnut (white Burgundy), vanilla (Beaujolais nouveau), black pepper (Syrah, Grenache, wines from Cotes du Rhone), even green bell pepper (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon), asparagus (Sauvignon blanc, Pouilly Fumé), violet and mushroom (some red Bordeaux), peppermint (Pinot Noir), buttery (Chardonnay) and even “cigar box” (cru classe Bordeaux).

Ref:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/The_Leisure_Lounge/FROM

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