''I will tell you about that captivating scent, about its held breath, which is impossible to resist, which anticipates everything you feel in your mouth immediately after bringing the glass to your lips. About that scent that can be an effect of the sun, of a radiant dawn or of the clouds that precede the rain. About that scent that is perhaps the most extraordinary sensorial aspect of wine, because it is also the language of its composition, of its history, of its traditions, of the territories in which it is born and of the microclimates that caress its days. Wine is the surprising synthesis of the scents of everything that surrounds us , because it has in its deepest nature the traces of the earth, of flowers, of fruits, of spices, of the sea, of the mountains, of the wind, of light and of so many other things that it nobly represents.
The initial act of anyone who approaches wine is in fact that of bringing the glass to their nose to smell its aroma, delicately swirling the glass, so that the wine contained in it, similar to the Earth rotating around its axis, can release its olfactory intimacy. Since man has existed, in his gastronomic culture there is no other drink or food that includes this wonderful ritual of encounter between sensitivity, nature and emotion. It is a mythical gesture, the one linked to wine, which with its delicacy helps us to reclaim our time and our inner balance.''
Here is the preface to the book '' Il Respiro del Vino '' by Luigi Moio , full professor of Oenology at the University of Naples Federico II and expert in the sensorial, biochemical and technological aspects of wine aroma.
From these few lines we can already understand the importance of olfactory analysis. Because it is undeniable that without the perception of smells we would hardly be able to understand what we are drinking, in particular what wine we are tasting.
Here, then, the odorous molecules become central, their structure, their combination, their arrangement on different layers and the senses with which we perceive them. So sight, "the sense of senses", hearing, "the sense of balance", touch, what has become "the most extensive sense", smell, "the forgotten sense" , the one abandoned for the longest time because it was considered the least useful, and instead now labeled as the most fascinating, also because it is closely connected to taste, to the point that we often taste more with the nose than with the mouth. Finally, taste, precisely, "the hidden sense", located on the back of the tongue in a much less sectorial way (sweet at the tip, bitter at the bottom, sour and salty at the sides) than is believed. Taste that has been enriched with other sensations: umami, or savory, discovered by a Japanese scholar over 100 years ago, but remained unknown until 2002, and fat.
Smell is the sense that humans use very little before putting food in their mouths, so much so that the operation is considered an impolite gesture, while animals do not taste without first smelling, fearing for their safety. Smell, however, that also thanks to wine has been rediscovered and revalued, capable as it is of giving unique emotions.
It is also true that identifying and recognizing aromas in wine is one of the most complicated exercises that every enthusiast tries every time he finds himself with his beloved drink in the glass.
Identifying certain scents, notes and nuances is a skill that must be trained, since smell is the sense that is most often stimulated by an infinite series of inputs that make up our olfactory memory.
Our brain is a sort of dossier that catalogues this information and is constantly updated, and the ability to recognise one perfume rather than another depends on how rich and complete this dossier is.
If we have never smelled the scent of vanilla, for example, it is impossible to identify it, even though this aroma is one of the most common in wine, due to the use of wooden barrels during the refinement.
The perfumes (or aromas) of wine depend on over 220 odorous (volatile) molecules present in the liquid in variable concentrations. You read that right! Over 220 molecules that create complex interactions between them and define the set of olfactory sensations of a wine: what is called " the bouquet ".
The aromas of wine certainly depend on the variety of grapes from which it is produced, but also on the soil and climatic conditions of the vineyard (the famous " terroir" ), the winemaking techniques used and the type of refinement (duration and material used).
Other factors that influence the aromas of wine are the state of conservation, the serving temperature, the type of glass used and the individual olfactory perception/sensitivity. Being able to recognize the aromas of wine is not a simple practice. It takes curiosity, study, exercise, and a lot of tasting practice to be able to identify and memorize a large archive of perfumes and aromas of wine and above all to understand their oenological meaning.
To go into a little more detail, but not too much, it is recognized that in wine the olfactory sensations are divided into three classes: primary, secondary and tertiary aromas .
The primary aromas (also called varietal) are those typical of the vine. They are therefore linked exclusively to the intrinsic olfactory characteristics of the grape. Think of aromatic vines such as Moscato and Gewurztraminer , to name the most well-known; in aromatic vines you can recognize aromas such as sage, fennel, laurel, thyme, basil, lavender, oregano, parsley and marjoram and they are usually those that arrive at the first "sniff". They are typical of white wines and some rosés.
Secondary aromas are basically the aromas of flowers and fruit. In both cases, the chromatic combination between flowers and fruit and the relative wine is valid; that is, in a white wine we will find aromas of white flowers and white-fleshed fruit, and vice versa for red wines. Herbaceous scents are also part of the secondary aromas, which usually recall scents of green vegetables and freshly cut grass. The range of secondary aromas is found in both white and red wines, both young and aged.
Tertiary aromas are typical of wines that have undergone a certain evolution in the bottle and/or a certain refinement in wood, amphora etc. etc. therefore usually more easily found in red wines. This category includes hints of spices such as anise, cinnamon, cloves, licorice, nutmeg, ginger, pepper, vanilla and saffron. In addition to spices, this category also includes aromas of chocolate and tobacco, wet wood (or what is called “undergrowth”) and leather.
And what about LE LASE wines ?
Here, the Chardonnay ( Goccia ) stands out for its daisy scent, the Violone ( Terra ) for its violet perfume, the Cabernet Sauvignon ( Cautha) recalls herbaceous scents of aromatic herbs… you just have to try them and smell them a lot!
Cheers!!
Last curiosity: the difference between the terms ODOR and AROMA.
Smell corresponds to the direct nasal olfactory perception, that is, after smelling. Aroma , on the other hand, is the olfactory stimulus perceived retronasally, after the introduction of wine into the oral cavity. Chewing and swallowing, in fact, generate an important “olfactory feedback”.
For example, the smell of coffee that we perceive from a moka pot; the aroma that we delight in the moment we bring the coffee itself to our mouth.