Science shows that each person smells different aromas
If you’ve been on a Wine-Knows trip, you know the word
terroir works its way into the conversation several times a day----it doesn’t
matter if we’re in the Southern or Northern hemisphere, or it’s a trip to
Bordeaux, Tuscany or Australia. To remind you, terroir is a French word that
has no exact translation. It is the sum
of all parts that go into making a wine unique:
everything from the soil in which the grapes are grown, the micro-climate,
the drainage of the vineyard, and even the pests in the local environment. Is there such a notion of one’s "personal
terroir?" Is there something unique about
each person that effects our perception of a wine?
Scientists in Spain believe there is. Research has demonstrated that
there is a physiological reason for the perceived differences in the aromas that
we smell in a wine. The reason has to do
with our unique microbes that live inside saliva. A minimum of 700 different bacteria live in
our saliva and mouth. No two persons’
makeup of these bacteria is exactly the same. The microbes are involved in
chemical reactions resulting in different aromatic compounds in wine. Different
bacteria cause different reactions and ultimately different smells for different
people.
While more research is necessary to explore this
notion of a personal terroir, the door has been opened to explore the idea as
the olfactory equivalent of our fingerprints.
No two people smell exactly the same due to the difference in their unique
bacteria makeup. Next time the person
next to you swirls a glass of Cabernet and speaks of “leather and cigar box”
and you smell “chocolate and spices” it could very well be due to your personal
terroir.
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