Credit: john_q @ HubPages.com
Wine sensory analysis is the process by which we apply the senses of sight, smell, taste, and touch to interpret and appreciate wine, even if its for hedonic (just for pleasure, as opposed to official critique) purposes. We look for color and clarity, assess all the aromas we perceive when we smell the wine and then ultimately evaluate the tastes and flavors we detect once the wine is sipped. It’s like a ritual, and all of those sensory notes are combined in our mind to develop an assessment of the wine and the final overall experience.
Most of us are not critics or judges, so we don’t necessarily follow any specific regimen or rules when tasting and drinking our wine and for the most part we just know what we like and don’t like. Assessment of wine is subjective due to the fact we all like/dislike different things and will have different levels of detection of certain attributes, so inevitably lively conversation will ensue. For example, take the distinct petroleum aroma (and flavor) often experienced in Riesling that I have referred may times before. To many, this characteristic is undesirable and may even be considered a fault by some. But, diehard Rielsing fans will feverishly disagree and tout that it is precisely what sets this varietal apart from others. If you detect this attribute in a blind tasting, you will be 100% correct in selecting Riesling.
The other day, I was tasting wines from the Rhone valley in France. The valley is in France, I was not tasting in France, much to my dismay. The last wine in the flight was a 2006 Les Combes d’Arnevel Chateauneauf-du-Pape and boy did it have some barnyardy, “horsey” aromas. I’m talking some serious funkification! This type of aroma includes smell of horse blanket or even barnyard animal manure. Sounds down right appetizing doesn’t it? In chatting with the wine shop owner, as I blurted out these tasty descriptions, he informed me of the challenge being in the business and using such terms because it just doesn’t sound good to most consumers and so it will be hard to sell, of course. I understood exactly what he was saying and I was careful with my analysis especially with others around me at the tasting bar as I didn’t want to be the cause of lost sales that afternoon 
On the other hand, if they tasted the wine, no doubt they would see for themselves.
Just like the Riesling, many have come to expect such notes from wines from certain regions such as the Rhone so it may not be considered a fault to those folks. It all depends on how intense the aromas are, as Cory Cartwright (@saignee) and Greg Tuttle (@Total_wine) confirmed via twitter. For example, 4-ethyl-phenol, the compound most likely responsible for horse manure aromas, can actually improve the quality of leather scents if its concentration is around 2mg. Yet, once it exceeds 4 mg, you’ll get full-on horse crap. Brettanomyces, often called just “Brett,” is also known to produce similar aromas, thought described more as “mousy” and can also be found in wines of Bordeaux and the Rhone. In most cases, if you detect this odor, you can be certain it’s juice from the Old World.
These are just a few funky notes, so share what aromas and tastes you find unique in wine and let us know if you enjoy them or not.
Cheers!
I appreciate the attention to fault vs. characteristic and how opinions vary. I think the benefit of reviews is that I can read a review and if someone says, horsey, then I know my wife probably won’t like it, but it may be slightly appealing to me. Great post!
Josh
I smiled at a recent tasting when the couple next to me passed on a Riesling because of its petrol aspect, mainly as it meant I got more in my glass!
Each to their own, but Kerosene in an aged Riesling & manure in a rich red – for me these are the signs of a wine with character as long as they are a component of the wine and not the overwhelming factor.
This might be the weirdest comment I’ve ever left on a wine blog, but here goes:
I appreciate the earthy, barnyard aroma in some wines, and I think that folks who hate it don’t realize that there are lots of different kinds of manure, and of course, composted manure is going to smell more like mulch than anything else. If you’ve spent time on a farm or working in the garden these aromas can be very pleasant for you.
Also, once you’ve done a lot of wine tasting and have really developed your nose, it’s fun to go to the zoo. Suddenly every exhibit has its own unique aroma and it creates a whole other dimension to the experience.
I have to agree with Benito about how pleasant an earthy, barnyard aroma can be. I spent some time on my cousin’s farm when I was very, very young, but mostly, I like the smell because I associate it with good memories of working in a restaurant in DC a few years ago. Some of us servers were trying some new wines that came in one day, and the restaurant wine manager told us to note the earthy, manure-like smell of a certain Pinot we were tasting, which happened to be very, very good. From then on, I associate that manure-like, or barnyard-like, smell with really good Pinot! In fact, now that I think of it, I know I’ve read recently how powerful sensory memories can be, and we all know how when we smell something good that reminds us of happy times, we are taken right back there, from just an aroma. I find that pretty magical.
Josh: That’s where the “awesome!” in wine comes from, it’s variability and the subjectivity in those who drink it.
Karl: With every Riesling I am learning to become a fan of that petrol. Have many wine friends here in Atlanta who live/die by the Riesling and exposed me to this distinctive attribute
Benito: Not weird at all and it makes complete sense. I think if wine lovers learn to keep an open mind with anything they experience in a wine, they will be rewarded. Even if they don’t become a fan of that attribute, they know it now.
Kimberly: One of the things I also enjoy most about wine is it’s ability to bring forth great memories or help create new ones. I like how you describe it as “magical”… indeed
Thanks for all the great comments!!
I think all these aromas (maybe moreso the manure than the petrol) are the smells of terroir that probably turned us all off in the infancy of wine appreciation, but became beloved and interesting as we tried new things…
I definitely don’t mind earthy(approaching barnyard) aromas & tastes, especially in pinot, but brett-bomb Bords or Rhones are a complete turnoff for me. Especially knowing it’s often the product of poor sanitation during winemaking. Brett masks terroir moreso than is an expression of it IMO…it’s a bacteria, not something the vines are pulling from the soil. Just my $.02. I love petrol in Riesling, btw.