Step 4: Smell the Wine

Once you have swirled your wine, put your nose right into the glass and inhale steadily and gently. This will allow you to catch the updraft of aroma you have created.

These initial seconds will reveal all kinds of aromas. Although our olfactory sense is our strongest sense and it has the best memory, most of us don't use it very much in our daily lives. This means that it may take some time for you to be able to put a name to the smells that you recognise, or to untangle all the different aromas in your mind. Your nose tires quickly, so give it a break after a few seconds, then go back to the wine.

It's worth making a note of your thoughts before you forget them - this will help you to build up a memory bank of flavours against which to judge future wines and to help you recognise wines you have already encountered.

Always interpret the aromas in terms that mean something to you. If the smell reminds you of apples, gooseberries, cigars or plums, then those descriptions are right for you. It really doesn't matter if someone else views the aromas differently - this is all to do with how YOU interpret the wine.