Nose

Assessing the Nose

Professional tasters evaluate the nose in stages:

1. First nose — smell without swirling to capture the most volatile, delicate aromas
2. Second nose — after swirling, which releases heavier aromatic compounds through aeration
3. Intensity — faint, moderate, pronounced, or powerful
4. Condition — clean, faulty (corked, oxidised, reduced), or developing

Aroma Categories

• Fruity — citrus, stone fruit, tropical, red berry, dark berry, dried fruit
• Floral — rose, violet, jasmine, elderflower
• Herbal/vegetal — grass, mint, eucalyptus, bell pepper
• Spice — pepper, clove, cinnamon, liquorice
• Earth — wet stone, mushroom, forest floor, clay
• Oak-derived — vanilla, toast, smoke, coffee, chocolate

Training Your Nose

The human nose can detect over 10,000 different scents, but identifying them requires practice. Using an aroma wheel and smelling reference samples (fruits, spices, flowers) helps build olfactory vocabulary.