The Nose Knows

I've been reading a lot of tasting notes lately, and the aroma descriptors I'm reading have been getting stranger and stranger. What exactly does "Wet Firewood" smell like?

One of our internet folks is lucky enough to own an "aroma kit." Before I started at Joe Canal's, I had no idea that something like this even existed. It's up there as one of the coolest things I've discovered in this position. What it is, is a collection of little bottles of concentrated scent. This particular kit is a basic red wine kit with only 12 scents, ranging from Strawberry to Licorice to Vanilla. These kits range from the most basic, to very extravagant kits that include over 50 vials of scents and cost many hundreds of dollars.

As I smelled through the vials, lots of scents were familiar to me. Then I got to I got to "blackcurrant." I was interested to smell it because I've read "currant" in so many wine reviews I have read over the past few months, but couldn't remember ever having smelled it before.

I smelled it, and an almost overwhelming familiarity filled my nose. See, in my little tasting notebook I have where I write down my amateur wine tasting notes, there are more than a few red wines I've tasted that I have written down "wine." under the aroma column. And what did this blackcurrant vial smell like? Wine!

I don't think you need $600 a wine aroma kit to become more familiar with aroma descriptors, however. Sure, maybe you might need to go to farther lengths to experience gooseberry or mineral, and "barnyard" may call for a day trip to a local farm, but read through some of our staff's picks on the jcanals.com staff pages. Take note of some of the aroma descriptors, even the strange ones. You certainly don't need an aroma kit to experience the scent of strawberry or green pepper - just pay closer attention and take a few extra minutes to inhale deeply a few times the next time you're making a dinner salad or shortcake. Before you empty out your kid's pencil sharpener, take a minute to explore what "lead shavings" smell like. Wine descriptors are all around you, and you'll be able to pick them out in your wines if you "stop and smell the roses"!

Certain grape varieties tend to inherit specific aromas as they age. Here's what to look for in some of your favorite red wines:

Cabernet Sauvignon: Raspberry, blackcurrant, bilberry, green pepper, licorice, clove and smoke.

Merlot: Blackcurrant, bilberry, blackberry, licorice, coffee and truffle.

Pinot Noir: Raspberry, blackcurrant, cherry, violet and licorice.

Syrah: Blackcurrant, redcurrant, bilberry, blackberry, violet, truffle, licorice and pepper

Tempranillo: Raspberry, bilberry, blackberry, cherry, prune, pine, licorice, cinnamon, clove, leather, chocolate and smoke

Zinfandel: Strawberry, taspberry, bilberry, cherry, prune, cedar, cinnamon, leather, caramel, dark chocolate and smoke.