3: The aroma of wine: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary aromas

Now that you've observed the wine, it's time to smell it. The smell, or the nose, is critical in blind tasting. It can reveal a lot about the wine, from grape variety to geographical origin – and even show signs of fault.

Understanding aromas

When we smell the wine, there are several different types of aromas we can identify:

1. Primary aromas : These come from the grape itself and include fruit, flower and spice aromas.
2. Secondary aromas : These aromas come from the fermentation process.
3. Tertiary aromas : These come from the maturation process and can include notes such as toast, vanilla, coconut, etc. from aging in oak barrels.

Practice makes perfect

Your nose is incredibly precise and can differentiate thousands of different aromas. When smelling the wine, try to be as specific as possible. Instead of just saying "it smells like fruit", try to identify what type of fruit - is it citrus, berry, stone fruit, tropical fruit? Is the fruit fresh, cooked, dried, or preserved?

Remember that practice makes perfect. The more you taste, the better you become at identifying different aromas and flavor notes.