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Is That Soap In My Wine?

Or: When the professionals do it wrong

by Mike Supple
published: 13 Jan 2010       | Comments

Sometimes wine tasting is all about the wine and sometimes it isn't. Visit a handful of wineries in any popular wine region and you'll find that many of them have turned their tasting rooms into all-out wine boutiques, complete with glassware, decanters, corkscrews, coasters, maps, books, t-shirts, cheeses, olive oils, chocolates, bath products and more. If it can remotely be construed as related to the wine industry or "fine living," then some winery sells it.

And there's nothing particularly wrong with this approach, because we live in a free market economy and you really need some of that stuff. But in an area that should be primarily focused on selling and teaching about wine, a measure of caution should be taken.

Given the fact that the smell of wine is a major factor in a wine's overall deliciousness, a winery would be wise to ensure that their tasting room environment allows potential buyers to properly smell the wine and thus fully appreciate it - leading to more sales.

A recent trip to a local winery revealed how disastrous poor planning can be. The primary smell that greeted visitors was not that of squished grapes, but lavender, sage and other various herbs all emanating from a massive table of decorative soaps just to the side of the tasting bar. The whole room was attractively laid out to entice shoppers, but every wine smelled like the soaps. And while lavender may smell nice in a glass of Shiraz, I don't need the burning aroma of lye in my Chardonnay.

As a visitor to a winery there isn't much you can do if you show up and are accosted by smells that you simply can't sift through. However, you can help to make sure you're not part of the problem: when you go tasting, skip the perfume, cologne and strongly scented deodorants. This will definitely help you (and your neighbors at the tasting bar) get more out of each sniff. And if you're going to be spending your money on bottles of wine, don't you want to make sure you really know what you're buying?