WHEN a wine expert describes a vintage as having the “scent of brambles with a hint of tobacco on the nose”, they don’t know what they’re talking about – at least no more than a novice does. However, the experts do know, and remember, what they smell.
Researchers in New Zealand tested the ability of 11 wine experts and 11 novices to recognise and name individual chemicals that are components of wine aroma. Each volunteer was given a series of 12 small, unmarked bottles and asked to name the odour, for example, vanilla or tobacco, in each.
Then those 12 bottles…
