So it turns out there’s more to sticking your nose in a wine glass than just looking like one of those ‘shnoz snobs’. 

Smelling a wine is all part of the tasting adventure, with the act of inhaling believed to tantalise your taste buds even more.

While eyes may be the window to the soul, the nose is the gateway to great wine. 

“If you think about appreciating a wine in its entirety, the experience is not just tasting wine but also appreciating the aroma and even the appearance,” says Omrah Winemaker Chris Murtha. 

Whether it’s a short quick whiff, or a longer sniff, your schnoz is the key to exploring wine’s many aromas, triggering neurons in your brain for full taste activation before the wine even touches your lips. 

It’s the ‘sniff test’ you won’t mind taking.

Taste and smell use the same type of sensory receptors; chemoreceptors that convert the ‘chemical environment’ into a biological signal. 

Fun fact: it’s actually your sense of smell that helps to distinguish sweet from bitter. 

When it comes to wine, each has a unique smell personality; whether its fruity, floral or even oaky. 

So the next time you pour a glass, stop and smell the roses as they say – give it a good sniff.