When the Rosé finished fermentation last month, our oenologue Agathe paid a house call to taste the evolving wine. I was desperately eager to savour that ebullient Esprit de Jeanne taste again, since our previous vintage sold out months ago.
This is the moment before tasting: that long focus of breathing in the scents. Although it’s the nose at work, I’m intrigued by Agathe’s eyes. Her look reveals how she’s following the scents into the labyrinth of her library of archived smells, searching for identifying molecules; a quest to decipher the wine.
She murmurs, “Cherry. Hawthorn. Pear. English candy.”
As I take my turn to smell, I too perceive a bouquet bursting with spring flowers and fruit. And naturally I then sip with high expectations. Swish. Hold. Swish again. An eager taste bud search for cherry and hawthorn blossoms.
Spit. Hmm. Loving the contrasting textures of tart fruit and the smoothness of gras on the palate. Loving the perfumed, retronasal aromas.
But I’m slightly bewildered. Agathe sees me casting about, smacking my lips, hunting for the characteristic tastes. She smiles. “No worries! Trust your nose.”
Of course. The sense of smell. Ten thousand times more sensitive than that of taste.
When people come for tastings here, we suggest they take a moment before they smell a wine; to put other thoughts out of their head and trust the scents that come through at first sniff. Subsequent sniffs can saturate and overwhelm our olfactory sensitivity.
Agathe reminded me that in my eagerness to quaff delicious Jeanne again, I forgot that the large molecules have not yet precipitated and are masking the flavours. To know how the final Rosé will taste after precipitation and after racking, we trust the scents.
A few weeks later, Geneviève joined us in the winery. By now the large, masking molecules had been racked away.
At the nose, the perfume revealed the same enticing profile we noted earlier.
But this time it was followed by those precious tastes we’ve grown to love. Tart spring fruit, cherry blossoms, complex pear, a hint of strawberry citrus candy.
We’re bottling in January. But today I’m thrilled Jeanne tastes just like her delicious, flavourful self. And right out of the spigot!
PS
In the meantime, we’re enjoying Jeanne’s sister Reine des Sources, our Sparkling Rosé. In fact, Agathe was instrumental in the making of Reine – she hails from northeast France where she cut her winemaking teeth in the Champagne region.
One thought on “Trusting the Scent – Rosé 2024”
Mary dear, and all,
Je trouve tellement impressionnant ce que vous avez construit, élaboré, inventé, défriché dans cette vie d’après la ville!! Quelle vie! Quelles étapes!!
Du courage, beaucoup de courage, du talent, de l’ouverture, de l’amour de la nature et de l’autre, de la joie, beaucoup d’émotions contradictoires, et tant de vibrations! Vous avez accompli quelque chose d’immense et je vous admire!
Love