Eugene Weekly : Wine : 12.01.05
Just Say Nose
Adventures in aroma
BY LANCE SPARKS
People who fall in love with wine often re-discover their noses, and sometimes that opens up new vulnerabilities to scent — and new avenues to the heart.
Sometime in our deeper past, back in the hunter/gatherer phase of human development, we probably used our schnozzes as acutely as any other critter in the wild, sniffing for the daily nosh or trying to catch a warning whiff of beasties that might just have us for dinner. But let's face it, modern civilization doesn't much promote or utilize the sense of smell; in fact, in some respects we make heroic efforts to avoid using this facet of our sensorium. We spend millions of dollars a year on products — deodorants, powders, sprays, soaps, little chemical-soaked, pine-scented cardboard trees to hang on rearview mirrors — created to cover aromas. Seems reasonable, though, when our bodies, houses, streets and cities might otherwise reek of noxious fumes emitted by factories, cars, gym socks and politicians.
Wine, though, reawakens the sense of smell. Dig on any tasting group: Splash hits the glass and the wine-geek holds it up to light, checks color, cuddles the bowl in warm palms, swirls the liquid to stir the molecules, then thrusts a beak as deeply into the glass as the rim will allow, snucking up deep drafts long before first drops pass lips. And even when actual tasting begins, cognitive psychologists tell us that, though our taste buds are a lot more subtle and refined than previously thought, some high percentage of taste is actually aroma.
Same experts tell us that that there seems some powerful connection between scent, memory and emotion. According to Oregon's most respected Perfect Nose, Mr. Chris Tsefalas, owner of Portland's great Perfume House, some perfumes are noted "memory scents": one whiff and we're thrown back into prior memories and primitive emotions. Also works for wine. Gotta love that, no?
All weekend, I've been snuffling around the house, nares flaring. The kitchen, of course, was sensory overload. When Kat cooks, the air is redolent — baked pepper bacon, sausage cooked in pinot grigio with thyme and parsley; sautees of celery, carrots, onions, garlic, ginger, fennel, leeks, squash; brined and basted turkey browning in the oven; apricot/ pepper jelly crusted ham; melted butter and sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate, sweet flour of rising Eula Mae buttermilk biscuits — a dizzying array. Stagger to next room: lighted candles, pine, fir, cedar boughs, fresh-cut flowers. Outside: wet leaves of oak and maple, woodsmoke, sodden earth-funk. I rub my face in rosemary and sage. Check pulse; might be a tad bit edgy here, full-tilt Christmas goooofy.
Natch, dinner hits the table with wine, some fine sniffers and sippers:
Salutations: Tasty bubblies abound, but for the bux it's hard to beat Oregon's own Argyle 2000 Brut ($16). Of course, you'll chill the wine, but don't over-chill or you'll miss the pleasures it offers to palate and proboscis. Actually, sniffing bubbly in a champagne flute usually yields little more than nose tickles: the wine is cold are flutes are not adapted to swirling. But sip this light-gold pretty and savor the flavor of ripe Jonagold apples with a tinge of lemon zest, just delish, especially with fitting nibblies.
Aperitif: Move the feast along with a crisply dry white from, of all places, Portugal. Quinta das Setencostas 2004 Alenquer ($9) is a blend of obscure local grapes with a soupçon of chardonnay to lend depth of flavor. It's light but gives up nice aromas/flavors of lime and limestone, apples and river rock. Portugal is emerging out of imperial hock to its Port tradition and bringing modern winemaking techniques to what had been minor wines of only local interest. This is one of the occasional upsides of globalization, one worth seeking.
Entreé time: Oh my, we pop the top on Domaine Ehrhart 2004 Gewurztraminer ($15), an Alsatian white so rich and juicy it sets new standards for this grape: white flowers, lychee fruit, ripe grapefruit, candied lemon, aromas and flavors so long and lingering, it seems almost a shame to swallow. Roast turkey newer found a finer match, but we could pair this with spicy Asian stir-fry or baked halibut or …. Dayum, just about any reason to open this wine will work,
Fruit bomb: Twist the cap off Timbuktu 2004 Big Block Red ($10), an Australian Bordeaux-profile blend — cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot, malbec, shiraz (syrah) — that nearly busts out of the glass with deep aromas and flavors of blackberries, ripe plums, huckleberries, black pepper, anise, long black gloves on perfumed hands. This wine does not need aging; it needs drinking, now.
Last-minute wine gifts worth giving — and getting: Over lotsa years, lotta local-area wine-buffs have enjoyed the friendship and generous hospitality of Larry Malmgren. Now, at a time of life when many folks would be thinking about sedentary retirement, Larry has launched a new business. He's importing top-quality wine accessories — beautiful corkscrews, coasters, carrying cases — from the Gattorna family of Argentina. I particularly like the leather two-bottle carrying case: take the bottles out, put the nose in, let the fun commence. See the line at Broadway Market. Bring friends.
Happy holidays, dear people. Hope my little ode to olfactory pleasures will help you follow your noses to good times with good friends, the scents of lasting — and loving — memories.
