Practice makes perfect

Start your sensory journey with a game. Choose a vial at random, without looking at the name of the aroma. Smell the vial and/or the cap. You will detect a scent, but can you identify it? That’s more difficult. It may bring to mind memories from the distant or more recent past or evoke certain emotions.

If the images conjured up by the aroma don’t allow you to name it (though the word may be on the tip of your tongue!), try to identify which family it belongs to: fruity, floral, vegetal, woody, spicy, animal or toasty? This exploration can also be done in a group: discussions around the perception of scents are an enjoyable way to share the experience and delve into your memories. As you listen to each other, you may find the right answer. But be careful not to let yourself be influenced!

Then look at the number on the vial and find it on the list of aromas. Now that you see the name of the aromatic note, of course it’s obvious: you knew it! Repeat the exercise with another vial. Practise this way every day with up to ten vials, making sure to include the ones you didn’t manage to recognise the previous time.

This will develop your olfactory memory. In just a few weeks, you’ll be able to identify and, above all, name these aromas, precious clues to the wines you’ll taste.

To find out more, follow the advice and tasting protocols in Le Nez du Vin books.

Rising to the challenge

In October 1980, a few months before the launch of Le Nez du Vin, Jean Lenoir was selected to compete against the British in the second edition of the ‘UK–France Wine Challenge’ organised by Le Figaro and The Sunday Times.

Finishing sixth out of 30 amateur competitors taking part in the final, he had to answer the following questions in 90 minutes (and train for years!):

  • Question 1: Here are four white wines that come from one of six regions: Chablis, Burgundy, Loire, Rhône, Bordeaux and Gaillac. Find the region of origin for each wine. Note: two wines may be from the same region.
  • Question 2: Same question with four red wines from six regions: Buzet, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhône, Corbières and Beaujolais.
  • Question 3: Here are three glasses of Bordeaux from the same appellation (such as Saint-Émilion), from three vintages between 1970 and 1979. Classify them in order of vintage from
    youngest to oldest and name the appellation.
  • Question 4: Here are four wines: three reds and one white. All are VDQS (Vins Délimités de Qualités Supérieures, a category that no longer exists) from one of these seven appellations: Côtes du Roussillon, Gros Plant du Pays Nantais, Côtes-du-Lubéron (now AOP Luberon), Costières du Gard (now Costières de Nîmes), Sauvignon du Haut Poitou, Corbières, and Coteaux du Languedoc (now in AOP Languedoc). Give the four regions of origin.

You can draw inspiration from this challenge and blind-taste wines, selecting winegrowing regions, winemakers and vintages to suit your knowledge, your preference and your budget. Whatever wines you choose, you will see the relevance of Le Nez du Vin in helping you perceive each wine’s distinctive character. (And don’t worry: the winner of the challenge only got 50% of the answers right!)

For the record, while the French were beaten by the British in the first Wine Challenge in Bordeaux, they got even that year in the UK. Thanks perhaps to their coach, a certain Jean Lenoir and his case of 120 aromas, which one year later became Le Nez du Vin!