“It’s a rock!… it’s a peak!… It’s a cape!
What was I saying, it’s a cape?… It’s a peninsula!”
Does this line ring a bell? It’s Cyrano De Bergerac, of course, sharing the same name as our famous Côtes-de-Bergerac. Speaking of wine, let’s talk a little about the wine’s nose!
Olfactory pleasure, a journey with your eyes closed
The scent of your mother’s perfume, the smell of toast tickling your nostrils when you wake up, the scent of salty sea air announcing a family holiday… there are thousands of scents, universal yet so personal. We love them!
The sense of smell is one of our five senses, along with sight, hearing, touch, and taste. Very useful for picking up information, it is above all a true source of pleasure. We all have a scent that makes us melt like snow in the sun...
The olfactory function is widely used in cooking, as is sight. All you Top Chef fans know that dishes are first judged on their presentation, and then the chefs delight in smelling the plate, as if reading the summary of a book. There are even restaurantswhere you eat with your eyes closed or in the dark so you can focus entirely on the taste and the scents. Perhaps you too have played blind taste tests at home, playfully trying to identify a dish or drink by taste or smell. At Oé, we like to do it every now and then. If you don’t, we recommend it—it’s a lot of fun, and who knows, you might even become an expert in oenology!
To get everyone on the same page and take you back to your memories, let’s talk about the scent lottery. That famous board game where you have to rely on your nose to find out what is hidden behind each scent. It filled our childhood and made our senses travel.
If we are talking about scents today, it is because wine is a master in this field. The famous tasting stage where you lean your nose over your glass of wine with curiosity and desire (and without moderation this time).
The aromas of wine, a dictionary of scents
There are liquids that have taste but no scent. Water, for example. If someone blindfolds you and you smell a glass of water, you will surely say you smell nothing. On the other hand, water does have a taste, and as surprising as it may seem, some people don’t even like water.
With wine, there is no risk—blindfolded, you can be sure your nostrils will be tickled. Make way for the journey, the aromas of wine are numerous.
There are many drinks that are unique, whose taste and scent do not change. There are thousands of types of wine. Between the different grape varieties, the different terroirs, the different regions, the different climates, the different winemaking methods and so on, you will never cease to be amazed by the diversity of this drink with a thousand and one surprises.
Back to our point, and especially to our aromas. A good organic wine is made of grapes grown and vinified with love by its winemaker. Grapes naturally contain aromas that are as varied as they are delicious. Depending on the grape variety, therefore, the type of grape, the aromas change. If you are not familiar with the concept of grape variety and find it hard to understand, it is very simple: it is as if the grape were the dog and the grape variety were the breed. Between a chihuahua and a German shepherd, the size, power, or even speed are different. In short, many things separate them, and yet they are both dogs. For grapes, it is the same thing: between a pinot noir, a cabernet sauvignon, a chardonnay or a merlot, the nuances can truly be felt with the naked eye once they are in the glass.
Physically, the grape varieties can differ by their size, by the thickness of their skin, or even by their color. Some grapes are better suited to extreme conditions, while others are more fragile and require special attention. Grape varieties therefore have their favorite geographical areas in which they can perfectly express all their potential. Merlot and cabernet sauvignon have made the Bordeaux region their preferred terrain, pinot noir reigns supreme in the Burgundy region, riesling particularly appreciates Alsace and the sun of Provence is perfectly suited to Ugni blanc. As you may have guessed, the grape varieties give you good indications about the region in which your wine was produced, and they also give you clues about the aromas you will be able to smell.
At Emmanuel, the vines are lucky to share the land with the lavender.
And what happens in the glass?
Winemakers are true druids, they perfectly master the art of winemaking and know the properties of the grape varieties they grow like the back of their hand. So to create the perfect drink, they establish a blend of flavors and characteristics to offer you a wine in their image.
The grape varieties and the terroirs are the main players in the aromas fruit, floral and vegetal aromas of wine. We are no longer used to talking about jasmine or red fruit herbal tea, and yet, malbec, the main grape variety of AOC Cahors, breathes the freshness of jasmine and blueberry.
Wine is a drink that is full of pleasant surprises, the nose of some wines is so pleasant that you hardly dare to taste it. Our Corbières with its English toffee nose leaves a very sweet and delicate memory. Taste it well chilled at aperitif time accompanied by raw vegetables and a mayonnaise sauce or a homemade hummus, it is a delight!
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The winemaker can also rely on his expertise during winemaking to develop the aromas of the wine. Fresh fruit aromas can develop into aromas of dried, cooked, or compote fruits for example.
Have you ever heard of tertiary aromas?
These are aromas woody, burnt, empyreumatic, which appear during wine aging, a stage that is between alcoholic fermentation and bottling. For young wines, aging lasts a short time (1 to 2 months) so the tertiary aromas are poorly developed and it is the primary aromas and secondary that are most present. Wines with a longer aging (one year or more), allow the evolution of the wine, the softening of the tannins and the appearance of the tertiary aromas. Aging wine in wooden barrels also allows to bring a woody side and offer it a beautiful controlled oxidation so that it has a goodmaturity. There is only one step between a high-end wine and a wine that turns into vinegar. It is the talent of the winemaker who speaks for making great wines.
Please your nose and your taste buds by tasting our selection of good organic wines with enchanting aromatic fragrances. Discover our white wines, our red wines, our rosés and our sparkling wines, perfect for a good tasting among friends and family!
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