SWE Evening #2: Science, Wine, and More

OK, for now, ignore the photo!  I need some sympathy. I'm sitting here thinking how hard it is to taste wine all day. From Champagne at lunch, to Bordeaux mid-afternoon, I switched to beer with dinner. But no, I didn't max-out on wine. Susan and I wanted to try a Washington gastropub we had read about in Food Arts, and beer is definitely Birch & Barley's "thing."

But (sigh!), now that I'm finished complaining about the responsibilities associated with a Society of Wine Educators conference (tasting wine, wine, and more wine), then why have I included a photo of what looks like supplies for a chemistry lab? The photo is my tip-of-the-hat to a fabulous session today conducted by Harriet Lembeck, CWE, and Steve Dente, VP of Research & Development, Robertet (use Google's "translate this page" feature for the French Robertet site).

With an approach that was way too cool to describe here (we'll have to talk in Greenville, or do a Greenville Wine Meetup to discuss it), Harriet and Steve tackled the topic, "Science and the Nose."  Why do we smell what we smell in wine?  What's the chemistry behind it?  What physiological and psychological factors come into play?  What would a team of 32 perfumers (see the Parfumerie link on the Robertet site), backed by a staff of engineers, chemists, and technicians, say about our "wine words"?  Terms like "velvety," "hearty," "crisp," "rich," "flinty," and more were evaluated by professionals at aromas and tastes, and their assessments were supported by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

None of this is intended to take anything away from the fabulous sessions on Champagne and Bordeaux wines I attended earlier in the day.  But for flat-out, stunning originality, and "you never heard it taught this way before," "Science and the Nose" just blew all of us away, who had the privilege of attending.  Kudos Harriet and Steve!  Sincere thanks.