In the world of wine we rely on our noses much more than the vast majority of other industries, and as I think I have said before, the more we use our sense of smell, the more sensitive it becomes. During the wine making process we witness a whole range of different aromas many of which are unique to grapes, wine and the fermentation process.

Naturally, the first real smell emerges as we start to press the grapes. It’s probably a bit obvious to say but the scent that dominates is an intense fruit, which at this very early stage does not vary to much from year to year – the factor which perhaps varies the most according to the vintage is the floral, perfumed element. I am please to say that the 2013 grapes were both fruity and floral, so all we have to do now is capture that in the bottle!

I think one of our favourite smells, which is always a very ‘homely, welcoming’ aroma when we open the cellar door in the morning is the yeast. It’s sometimes more like opening the door of a bakery than a wine cellar. They say that if you’re ever trying to sell your home, there are three things that you can do to improve your chances when people come to view – light a fire (assuming that you have a fire place!), brew some fresh coffee (even if you don’t like coffee), or bake some bread. Yeast is such a great smell, but in wine making it should never really be allowed to dominate the nose of your finished product. Anyway, I digress a little….

Unfortunately this wonderful yeasty smell only lasts for a few days during the seeding of the tanks, and even more unfortunately, it is replaced by something far more sinister – the silent killer – carbon dioxide. Of course this is not a smell at all,which is what it makes it so dangerous. Once the fermentation kicks in, we have to make sure that our ventilators are working at full power to remove this dangerous gas, one of the by-products of wine making (together with the alcohol). If you forget for even a second and try to put your head near an open tank to see what is happening, it will, quite literally, take your breath away, but not in a good way.

In the world of wine we rely on our noses much more than the vast majority of other industries, and as I think I have said before, the more we use our sense of smell, the more sensitive it becomes. During the wine making process we witness a whole range of different aromas many of which are unique to grapes, wine and the fermentation process.

Naturally, the first real smell emerges as we start to press the grapes. It’s probably a bit obvious to say but the scent that dominates is an intense fruit, which at this very early stage does not vary to much from year to year – the factor which perhaps varies the most according to the vintage is the floral, perfumed element. I am please to say that the 2013 grapes were both fruity and floral, so all we have to do now is capture that in the bottle!

I think one of our favourite smells, which is always a very ‘homely, welcoming’ aroma when we open the cellar door in the morning is the yeast. It’s sometimes more like opening the door of a bakery than a wine cellar. They say that if you’re ever trying to sell your home, there are three things that you can do to improve your chances when people come to view – light a fire (assuming that you have a fire place!), brew some fresh coffee (even if you don’t like coffee), or bake some bread. Yeast is such a great smell, but in wine making it should never really be allowed to dominate the nose of your finished product. Anyway, I digress a little….

Unfortunately this wonderful yeasty smell only lasts for a few days during the seeding of the tanks, and even more unfortunately, it is replaced by something far more sinister – the silent killer – carbon dioxide. Of course this is not a smell at all,which is what it makes it so dangerous. Once the fermentation kicks in, we have to make sure that our ventilators are working at full power to remove this dangerous gas, one of the by-products of wine making (together with the alcohol). If you forget for even a second and try to put your head near an open tank to see what is happening, it will, quite literally, take your breath away, but not in a good way.