Wine by smell? Can you nail a terroir?

WINE TALK
21

I think an Argentine Torrontes might be easy, but that’s not really the terroir as much as just a very distinct nose.

22

I’ve identified wines to grape variety and general locale plenty of times, but never to a specific vineyard or wine. Barolo/Barbaresco is pretty easy to identify, but that’s mainly because Nebbiolo is very distinctive and it’s not found in many other places.

Heavy handed oak in any red wine can do a great job of confusing the sniffer.

23

I think that the run of the mill educated wine drinker can nail one from time to time, but not with enough consistency to elevate it to much more than the old “even a blind hog can find an acorn”/“even a stopped clock is right twice a day” territory. I’ve done it once or twice with a Romanee St. Vivant, which I think has a pretty distinctive nose, but I wouldn’t bet a nickle that I could do it again. And I gamble for a living.

24

We had a Leroy RSV last week blind and we (will not disclose names) all thought northern rhone.

25

While Harry may have been a bit facetious in his response, it’s nevertheless possible to make
such a mistake with some older Burgundies. I sometimes catch a whiff of cassis in some
20+ year old Burgundies, whereas this is a more common characteristic in Bordeaux wines.

Harry Waugh was a winetaster of some renown, and was adept at picking out the Bordeaux
estates when tasting blind, together with assigning the vintages thereof. His descriptions
were simple, direct and conveyed his impressions ever so well. There weren’t any of the references
to such things as exotic Asian spices and the like. Oh, yes, he didn’t assign points to his notes.

Hank [cheers.gif]

26

Evening Todd,

If you are new to Burgundy and yet have tried enough Musigny to spot it blind with such accuracy you are inordinately fortunate to have had such a superlative start - I am devilishly envious. Starting at such a zenith of class means it can only be downhill from here, I’m afraid.

I’m quite good at blind tasting, but it remains a distinctly demanding exercise with the possibility making an enormous arse of yourself always palpably present. Since doing so can provide a few chortles for your fellow tasters its not really so bad. It is good to laugh, I feel.

Cheers,
David.

27

I usually screw them all up, but have a few places implanted by frequency or repetition- Heintz for Chard is one.

I remember blind tasting 08 Failla Keefer this fall and convincing myself it was Zweigelt… It had been a long week.

28

Old Aussie Shiraz with its formic acid scents (crushed ants / beetles / cockroach) stands out quite a bit.

29

I would think Gewurztraminer might stand out somewhat?

30

Morning,

Ah Harry Waugh, a giant of the wine world and a deeply lovely fellow. Best blind taster ever, we are told. I have a picture of me in the Oxford blind tasting team as we were introduced to him when he paid us students the honour of dropping by the Oxford/Cambridge tasting competition - I’m so happy every time I look at it. Brilliant times…

Cheers,
David.

31

I can’t do it at all

32

Hence the blind taster’s motto: “Often wrong, never in doubt.”

[cheers.gif]

33

Welcome back, Mike. Your absence was noted, your contributions missed. Hope the trial ended well.

34

I drink quite a bit of nebbiolo but I’m shocked how easy it can be to confuse it with Brunello or vice versa sometimes.

On this subject, two years ago I served blindly the following foursome, all 1999s, picked for the structural similarities – solid acidity, substantial but fine-grained tannins and reserved fruity qualities:

– Produttori Barbareso normale/torre (very approachable for Barbaresco)
– Monthelie-Duhairet Volnay-Champans (very backward and masculine for Volnay)
– Mastrojanni Brunello (very refined for Brunello)
– Lopez de Heredia Rioja Tondonia (sui generis)

The LdH stood out because of the oxidative notes, but I don’t believe anyone other than me pegged the other three correctly. (I’d had someone else bag them so I didn’t know which was which.) And I doubt I could have done that had I not had all three wines an several occasions.

35

In support of many of the (humble) opinions here- Emile Peynaud- possibly the greatest Bordeaux expert of them all, told me that he often could not even distinguish a Paulliac from St. Julien or Margaux.

Many people, (more on another board-RIP) would claim that they could consistently nail a specific wine most of the time. Would like to see the proof.

36

I’ve done a couple very blind tastings where the wines are all the same temp and in black glasses. The first thing is trying to figure out what’s a white and what is red. You know, is this a Chard or Merlot? It’s embarrassing when you’re wrong. lol

37

I can do pretty well if given an ‘A,B,C, or D’ choice, but flying completely blind I’m probably throwing darts as much as anyone. For some reason I have done very well picking out California Chards that use Wente clones without even being asked to guess.

38

I think I can identify RRV Pinot’s by the cherry/cherry cola note, and Mosel Riesling’s petrol when compared to other rieslings, about 3/4 of the time. But if you want higher than that, it would have to be assuming all wines present were at least reasonably typical.

39

Do you think you could pick out your own wine from a group?

40

I have found myself fooled by Bonnes Mares smelling a lot like Musigny …
With NSG then tend towards smelling like either Vosne or Chambolle and by smell alone I think it pretty tough to nail.