What is the 'nose' of wine?

Before you ever take a sip, your nose has already gathered most of the information. In fact, about 80% of what we perceive as 'taste' is actually smell. That's why wine people spend so much time swirling and sniffing.

The trick is to smell in two stages. First, hold the glass still and take a gentle sniff — this is the 'first nose,' catching the lightest, most volatile aromas. Then give the glass a good swirl (this increases the wine's surface area and releases more compounds) and sniff again — the 'second nose.' You'll often pick up completely different things.

Wine aromas come in three layers. Primary aromas come from the grape variety itself: Sauvignon Blanc smells like grapefruit and gooseberry, Gewurztraminer smells like lychee and roses, and Muscat smells like, well, grapes. These are hardwired into the grape's DNA.

Secondary aromas come from fermentation. Yeast activity creates compounds that smell like bread, biscuit, or banana. If the wine went through malolactic fermentation (a common step for red wines and some whites), you might get buttery, creamy notes — that's the lactic acid bacteria at work.

Tertiary aromas (collectively called the 'bouquet') develop during ageing. Oak barrels contribute vanilla, toast, coconut, and spice. Bottle ageing in the absence of oxygen develops earthy, complex notes: leather, tobacco, dried leaves, mushroom, truffle. This is where aged wines get their extraordinary complexity.

Want to train your nose? Start by smelling everything consciously — fruits at the market, spices in your kitchen, flowers in the garden. The more smell memories you build, the easier it becomes to identify them in wine. It's genuinely a skill anyone can develop.