Wine Descriptions

Welcome to Vine to wine this is your host Linda Moran. Today we discuss the descriptions used for wine and the reference developed to identify them. As we have discussed many times the wine descriptions we read are the authors attempt to let us know what the wine is like, by identifying similarities and characteristics of items familiar to us. A process for honing in on these smells was developed by UC Davis Professor Anne Noble - a famous tool – the Aroma Wheel. It is, as the name suggests, a circular chart dividing the smells emitted by wine into several categories. Those categories are then focused into more specific sub-categories, helping the participant to narrow it down to an ultimate description. For example a writer's description of a Chardonnay as lemony with notes of green apple, came from the smell of the wine. The initial smell was fruity. The participant asks; what kind of fruit? Citrus. Okay, now what kind of citrus and the conclusion is lemon - not lime or orange or grapefruit. The Aroma Wheel actually guides us through the process of finding the most accurate descriptions. However, if you really have never smelled eucalyptus, you would not likely identify it - or you may relate to it as a cough drop. The point being why not challenge yourself and see what your next glass of wine reminds you of. And thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.