Some would argue that smelling a wine is even more important than tasting it. Regardless of what works better for you, taking in a wine's aromas or "bouquet" or "nose" is a step that should never be side stepped.The key to enhancing the aromas of the wine is in the swirl. You've probably seen them... people swirling the wine around the glass quite vigorously no less. Don't pigeon-hole them as "wine snobs" ...there's reason. It's all about enhancing the aromas to more easily identify them. When you swirl the wine up and along the sides of the glass, it leaves a small amount lining the inside. When air contacts this thin layer, the liquid evaporates and the aromas are captured in the glass.
The best experiment to try and smell the aromas after the wine has been poured. What do you smell? Now, swirl the wine around the glass and smell the aromas? They should be more noticeable and more easily recognized.
By the stem of the glass, bring the glass up to your nose and take in the aromas. Don't merely sniff the wine but deeply inhale concentrating on what you smell. Identifying smells is actually quite difficult - yes, there's more than grapes to smell here.
Throughout our life, people sanitize everything deferring smells all together making the act of identifying aromas frustrating. Practice! Practice! Practice! This can be a lot of fun. Examples of aromas from wine range from chocolate, vanilla, strawberry to wet-pavement, grass, and cat pee! In some wines, aromas are blatantly obvious, others, are more subtle making it difficult to identify them.
Regardless of its complexity, refining your 'nose' is important if you want to be a serious wine taster. If you're good enough, you can detect aromas that are only apparent in certain vineyards.
A prime example of this is a Zinfandel from Rosenblum Cellars. They offer a wine that has eucalyptuses flavors and aromas. Interestingly, a portion of their vineyard has a massive eucalyptuses tree hanging over the vineyard dropping leaves upon the ground and back into the soil. These nutrient and flavors are picked up by the vines and are visible in the wine. If you picked up on this while smelling the wine, you could not only identify it was from this vineyard but then also that it was a Rosenblum wine - BAM! You just nailed it. It's not as obvious as this example but with practice you can start picking up on these intricacies.
Identifying aromas can tell you everything from the grapes used, to the process of fermentation. It can also deduct styles used during the wine making process. Concentrate and you'll begin to pick up on these clues.
