All posts by hcrockett

The Importance of Intentional Smell

Last summer, through the Sustainable Food Concentration and funding from an International Experience Grant, I interned at the Spannocchia Foundation in Tuscany, Italy.  I was a tuttofare (literally, “do everything”) intern on the farm and primarily tended to the vineyard.  One of many incredible privileges my fellow interns and I experienced was a weekly education program— covering everything from pasta to my personal favorite: wine. Jessica, our education director, had carefully constructed a wine tasting in order to  expand our knowledge and appreciation for the seemingly infinite tastes of the wine world.

Jessica’s final words before we started smelling were, “And, remember, it’s just grapes.”

Shot glasses were on the table, but, instead of being filled with nocino or lemoncello, each shot glass had an object intentionally placed in it. One had a burnt match; another had fresh juniper; another had soap.  We were paired up and told that one partner would be blindfolded while the other partner chose which shot glass would be gingerly sniffed. As I went into this exercise, I thought, “These are all scents I have smelled many times. This will be easy.”  

I was incredibly surprised with how few scents I could detect, and, of those I could detect, how few I could accurately identify. Many scents were familiar, yet hard to place. Juniper was pine; soap was nothing; cinnamon was nutmeg. Smelling before tasting added an incredible depth to the experience.  We can taste sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami (savory), but how can we further develop our palate?  Recognizing and identifying smells prior to tasting wine can help detect those flavors.  Wines can smell and taste woody, earthy, nutty, floral, fruity, or herbaceous.  Within those broader categories exist specific smells and flavors such as freshly cut grass, mold, diesel, asparagus, soy sauce, violet, coffee, oak, or… wet dog.  These smells we detect end up being the flavors we describe.

HaleyCrockett.Davis-Wine-Aroma-Wheel1When tasting superb wine, it is possible to detect differences in flavor year to year depending on how much sunlight the vines received, how much rainfall, whether there was a frost, and soil quality (there is even a French wine that requires a specific mold to grow on the grapes).

While in Italy, we were able to visit a biodynamic winery that did not amend their wines at all.  This is risky because not adding sulfites and other stabilizers could mean that a whole batch of wine is terrible one year. Sulfites are the main contributors to headaches and hangovers after drinking red wine. Biodynamic farming practices rely on only harvesting, trimming vines, and amending soil when the moon is in specific phases of its cycle.  Diversity in color, flavor, consistency, acidity, alcohol content, and sweetness is usually frowned upon in modern wines, but biodynamic farming embraces and strives for interesting differences.

In Italy, unimaginable care and pride goes into winemaking.  If you are privileged enough to taste excellent wines, you should mirror that commitment and artistry while tasting.  Jessica taught us that when tasting wine, first you must smell and then swirl the wine and examine the color.  Contrary to popular belief, this swirling has a purpose other than trying to impress your date.  Swirling the wine oxidizes it, bringing out the flavors. When tasting the wine, you want to makes sure to swirl it around your entire mouth.  While tasting the wine you should slowly suck in air to continue to oxidize it. Finally, try to determine which aromas and tastes you pick up from the wine. The mouthfeel of the wine is equally important: for example, if it makes your mouth feel dry, those are tannins at work! Tannins exist in the skin of grapes, and since the skins are left on in the process of making red wine, red wines are often much more tannic than white wines. This all looks ridiculous, but embrace it.

While it is important to appreciate handcrafted wine, few of us have had this experience. I like to remember that inexpensive table wines also have value in bringing people together. Some of my favorite memories at Smith occurred when sitting in my room with a bottle of cheap wine talking about “the big issues” with my friends in Lamont. Wine brings people together, and it does not have to be of the highest quality in order to spark memories and create new ones. I find myself very present when I am drinking wine in a group, yet there is something comfortingly familiar with the experience. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the science and art behind wine. Remember, it is just grapes.

 

Haley Crockett- JVTFHaley Crockett graduated from Smith in 2015 with a Major in American Studies and a Minor in Sustainable Food. She is currently a fellow at Jones Valley Teaching Farm in Birmingham, Alabama. She works in a middle school where she teaches sixth, seventh, and eighth graders about food and nutrition using a school garden. Her major interests in global issues revolve around food justice and sustainable practices.

 

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