Why Aromas Defeat Language

Wine tasting notes are full of nouns that reference fruits and other aromatic substances. These are helpful in giving readers a foothold in understanding a wine. If a Syrah smells of blackberry, smoked meat, and black pepper, you have some idea of the territory in which the wine fits. But tasting notes pretend that aromas can be named with confidence and accuracy and the critic’s job is to take an inventory. But aroma doesn’t quite work like that. Aromatic compounds are volatile in that they rapidly vaporize and do so at different rates. The same wine can smell floral when first poured, herbal ten minutes later, and animal after half an hour. Temperature, the shape of the glass, oxygen exposure, and food affects how we perceive aromas and so does our subjective condition. What you ate for lunch or how tired you are will condition how you perceive aromas. So when we name an aroma we are snatching at a passing tendency rather than pinning down a stable object. This is why wine so often…