Wine is like a perfume. You may not know the precise word to describe an aroma, but this is no reason to deny yourself the pleasure of smelling it.

Smell the clean glass

Before pouring the wine, check that the glass does not contain any lingering odours from washing-up products.

The first nose

Tilt the glass to bring your nose closer to the wine and inhale slowly for two to three seconds. You should then be able to smell the more volatile aromas to be found in the upper part of the glass. However, you may not smell anything, because wine is not always very expressive at this stage.

The second nose

Swirl the wine in your glass and then inhale the invisible cloud of vapours that will have formed. There is now a greater concentration of fragrant substances, the bouquet will be stronger and new aromas will have emerged. We can detect the alcohol more clearly and, if the wine has been matured in barrels, the woody notes will be more apparent.