Aroma Ace: Aromas and your WSET tasting exams

Identifying aromas and building your aroma vocabulary is one of the most satisfying parts of wine study. However, when it comes to identifying aromas in an exam setting, it can quickly become one of the most stressful parts of the exam. 

Fortunately, there are a number of techniques you can use to maximize the number of points you can receive for finding aromas in a wine, along with some tricks to avoid aroma bias with the rest of your tasting. 

A quick nosing

First things first, when you first receive a wine, it’s good practice to quickly sniff the wine (without swirling) and immediately write down any obvious characteristics that you can discern. This is not a slow, methodical nosing, rather, this is a brief inhale for each of your wines. Whatever you smell on that first approach, quickly write it down. 

This technique should allow you to write down a few quick characteristics for each wine while your nose is fresh and before you have any preconceived ideas. It’s unlikely that you will identify any mild or hard-to-get aromatics, but you will likely pick up some of the more dominant aromas in the wine. Don't be perturbed if you don’t smell anything obvious right off the bat - that can tell you things about the wine as well. 

Once these have been established, you can go looking deeper when you return to the wine after analyzing the appearance. 

Official nosing

Once you have worked through the appearance, you should return to the nose. At this point, you hopefully have some characteristics already written down. Smell the wine again and try to identify any other obvious aromatics - write these down. 

From here, use the clusters for help finding more aromas. By taking this approach, you are methodically moving through the WSET lexicon and prompting yourself with possibilities, rather than trying to pluck individual characteristics from the glass. This means you’re less likely to miss specific aromatics, you’re more likely to be able to put a name to a scent and you are more likely to have written a solid tasting note for the aromas. 

For primary characteristics, first consider the fruit vs non-fruit clusters. For a white wine, consider the tree fruit, citrus fruit, stone fruit and tropical fruit. Remember, we’re not writing down these clusters, we’re merely thinking about each cluster, and then use the thought of that cluster to tease out any characteristics. For example, think of citrus fruit and then consider if you can smell any orange or lemon or lime or grapefruit. If you can, write these down. 

Move on and then think of stone fruit, then consider if you can smell peach or nectarine or apricot. Do the same with the other fruit related clusters, then move to the non-fruit clusters, such as floral or herbal or herbaceous. You might also consider the aromas that you smelled on the first nosing, then see if you smell corresponding characteristics from the same cluster - you often can. Try your best to work through the clusters in order - if you have a set routine that you have practiced, you are less likely to miss clusters. 

Once you have worked through the primary clusters, move onto the secondary and tertiary clusters as well. 

Don’t forget the palate

One of the great things about wine tasting is that you get two (figurative) bites of the cherry. Many people notice different aromas on the palate than they do on the nose partly due to the wine warming in the mouth. As the aromas drift up into the back of your throat and into your olfactory glands, additional compounds can be identified. It’s likely then that you can tease out some different aromas compared to the nose as you swish it in your mouth. This is one reason why it’s important to hold the wine in your mouth for a period of time and not simply spit/swallow. 

Go forth and use your knows

Finding aromas and flavors in your WSET exam doesn’t need to be intimidating — it can be one of your strengths. Having a methodical approach ensures you give yourself enough cues to fully assess all the aromas, and that you remain as objective as possible. While practice doesn't necessarily always lead to perfection, it can certainly help in your pursuit of excelling at WSET exams. So, practice smartly, go in with a plan and it’s highly likely you will do great!!