The Nose Knows
Swirl . Sniff . Sip . Repeat . Just kidding on the repeat. These aren’t instructions on a shampoo bottle. However, following these most basic of steps will enhance any wine tasting experience, allowing the consumer to discover all of the aromas, tastes and hidden treasures a wine contains. Making wine is a gamble. Pure and simple. Winemakers battle with so many things that could go wrong. Frost, hail, heat, or smoke from fires can damage the grapes before they even make into the winery. The cork used to seal the bottle could have been subjected to the tree fungi 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) causing cork taint and ruining the bottle by making the wine smell musty or like wet cardboard. Brettanomyces, or Brett, a wild yeast that can invade a winery or barrel if it hasn’t been scrupulously cleaned can make a wine have aromas of extreme barnyard notes like sweating horses, sweaty gym socks, or chee...