{"id":19954,"date":"2019-06-11T16:00:35","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T14:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.xtrawine.com\/?p=19954"},"modified":"2019-07-09T17:26:26","modified_gmt":"2019-07-09T15:26:26","slug":"training-your-nose-like-a-pro-how-to-understand-the-aromas-of-italian-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.xtrawine.com\/en\/training-your-nose-like-a-pro-how-to-understand-the-aromas-of-italian-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"Training Your Nose Like a Pro \u2013 How to Understand the Aromas of Italian Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The bouquet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve heard us speak about it in so many of our reviews. The bouquet<\/strong> is the aroma <\/strong>that any wine omits after it\u2019s first poured from the bottle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every bouquet contains notes<\/em>. These vary in intensity depending on the make of the wine and the producer\u2019s own efforts<\/strong>. Often, you\u2019ll have dominant notes<\/em> that are immediately apparent, with subtler notes<\/em> hiding deeper into the bouquet for those who wish to search for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more complex <\/em>the bouquet, the more notes it will generally have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of that is fairly common knowledge. But there\u2019s a question that many who aren\u2019t wine purists have about bouquets\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you understand them?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Or more specifically, how do you train your nose<\/strong> so that you can detect the individual notes in a bouquet?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve all been at a party and seen somebody take one whiff <\/em>of a glass of wine only to immediately rattle off a bunch of notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when you smell the same wine<\/a>, you struggle to get past the dominant note to find all of the subtler ones underneath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a secret.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The ability to untangle the bouquet isn\u2019t something that we\u2019re born with. It\u2019s a talent <\/strong>that you have to train constantly to ensure you get it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nose is a Delicate Tool<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Just think about all of the aromas that bombard your nose every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter where you go, there are all sorts of smells for you to discover. And it can lead to a bit of sensory overload. By the time you\u2019ve dipped your nose into an Italian wine\u2019s bouquet, you may not be able to pick everything out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, it could just be a case that your nose is picking up every other smell in the room too, which makes it harder to zero in on the aromas that you\u2019re trying to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your nose is a pretty delicate tool and it\u2019s one that needs a little education <\/strong>if you\u2019re going to pick apart a wine\u2019s bouquet like a pro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here a few things that you can do to both train your nose and make it easier to understand the aromas<\/strong> that an Italian wine emits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip #1 \u2013 Swirl the Wine<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t jump straight into trying to sniff the bouquet<\/strong> when you first pour your glass of Italian wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes a little time for the wine to mingle with the air so that it starts releasing its full array of notes. You can speed things up a little bit by swirling <\/strong>the wine slowly in the glass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that the wine\u2019s sat still in a bottle, often for several years. It basically needs a little bit of loosening up before it gives you everything that it has to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take your time and swirl the wine. Let it mingle with the air so that it can release all of the smells that you expect to find when you finally take a sniff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip #2 \u2013 One Long Sniff<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

How you\u2019re trying to smell the bouquet could also be an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re taking short and sharp sniffs, you aren\u2019t going to experience everything that it has to offer. Plus, you\u2019re not giving your nose the chance to really figure out what it\u2019s smelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key to taking into a bouquet is to hold the wine close to your nose and take one, long inhale<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allow the aromas to wash over your nose so that you can start picking apart the notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s almost like taking a big gulp of something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, that\u2019s a good general rule of thumb. When examining the bouquet, it\u2019s all about the big inhale to get as much of it as possible. But when it comes time to drink, small sips<\/strong> are the key if you want to really appreciate the wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip #3 \u2013 Start Training Yourself<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now, let\u2019s get to the main event in terms of being able to understand Italian wine bouquets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can do both of the above tips and still not get a real feel <\/strong>for what you\u2019re smelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The secret that the pros have is that they train their noses<\/strong> to make them more capable of picking out individual scents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And they don\u2019t do it by constantly smelling different glasses of wine. After all, your nose needs to know what it\u2019s searching for<\/strong> before it can figure out what\u2019s in a bouquet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, they often use special kits<\/strong> that help them to understand the building blocks of different types of wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where we come in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We offer one of the special kits on the Xtrawine website. Made by Pulltex, who you may recognise as one of the world\u2019s leading Italian wine accessory manufacturers, the kit contains a bunch of smaller bottles, each of which has a different aroma.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

These include the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n