ALEXANDRE SCHMITT: THE NOSE CONSULTING THE WORLD’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS ENOLOGISTS

OLFACTION SEMINAR IN CHILE: The French perfumer, Alexandre Schmitt, who nowadays is working in Bordeaux Faculty of Enology teaching prestigious winery’s enologists and wine professionals on olfaction in Spain, France and United States, announced his visit to Chile between January 12th and 23rd 2009 in order to dictate the First Olfaction Seminar in South America.

Schimitt works as a consultant to Jean-Claude Berrouet (Taransaud Barrels, Château Pétrus, Lafleur-Pétrus, Trotanoy, Magdeleine), Château d’Yquem, Château Margaux, Tim Mondavi, Geneviève Janssens (Robert Mondavi Winery), Michael Silacci (Opus One), Marimar Torres (Miguel Torres wineries), Kendall Jackson, among others.

He has been called the “Guard of the Essences”, the “Nose of the World”, and according to his words: “the smelling sessions are a new tool for winemakers, which offers the possibility to develop the sensitivity of our sense of smell and to record in our memory a large amount of aromas.” Evidently, the extent of our aromatic knowledge is related to the degree of our immersion in this universe.

Before and after the Olfaction Seminar, different meetings with well-known national winemakers, who have been interested in personally meet him, will be carried out. Even wine valleys that want to carry out private activities to their producers have been contacted. That is why a very hectic week is expected.

In Europe, seminars have been dictated successfully in different places such as Bordeaux, Barcelona, La Rioja, Madrid, Rueda, Porto, Alentejo, the Douro Valley, confirming the vast interest in participating on the exclusive seminar. Many important figures or famous wineries have been already trained such as Jean-Claude Berrouet (Château Pétrus, Lafleur-Pétrus, Trotanoy, Magdeleine), Château d’Yquem, Château Margaux, Taransaud Barrels in Cognac, Tim Mondavi, Geneviève Janssens (Robert Mondavi Winery), Michael Silacci (Opus One), Marimar Torres (Miguel Torres wineries), Kendall Jackson wineries, Viader winery, Diageo (Beaulieu Vineyards), Merryvale, Dominus Estate, etc. Alexandre Schmitt works as well with the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto and the Catholic University in Porto.

Eighteen years ago, Schmitt met the Château Pétrus Technical Director- one of the most prestigious in the world- Jean-Claude Berrouet, who motivated him to specialize in the wine world. He recently said in an interview: “For the past fifteen years Alexandre has regularly enlightened me with his knowledge of the world of olfaction. First I became conscious of the discovery of the invisible, and then I learned how to develop my sense of smell in order to improve my enjoyment of everyday life. The ability to precisely identify certain aromatic components allows me to improve my assessments on a professional level, and, therefore, to feel self-assured and perform better in analytical wine tastings ……it’s a real pleasure!”

The Olfaction Seminar will be completely organized and coordinated by Andes Wines and Wine & Olfaction Consulting, and is aimed to Winemakers, Vine-Growers, Agronomists, Sommeliers, Vineyards owners and businessman who are actively participating in the wine world. The smelling sessions have a dual purpose: to structure our smelling universe and to teach us to describe smells with an accurate use of the rich vocabulary at our disposal. To memorize aromas is first and foremost to learn how to describe them.

It is clear that through a constant, stubborn and guided smelling practice we can acquire a sound knowledge of the aromatic descriptors of wine. It is surprising to see that wine professionals and amateurs taste wine without having ever received olfactory training. The best musicians spend years studying music theory and practicing scales on a daily basis. Why should it be different for wine professionals who use their sense of smell every day?

The First Level course will last four sessions of four hours each. On this introduction of what olfaction is in the wine field, all aromatic describers which are used in wine tasting and all smell families presented in wine will be analyzed.

GENERAL BACKGROUND

Schmitt is the only perfumer working with the wine world. He was born in Bordeaux in 1967. Firstly, he studied Chemistry at the University of Science of Bordeaux where he had an entrance examination on olfaction, and he trained himself in an autodidact way, smelling everything he could. Then, at 23 he began a creator of perfumes, thanks to his studies made in International Superior Institute of Perfumery, Cosmetics Food Aromas in Versailles.

Throughout the years, Alexandre Schmitt has been able to identify about 1500 different smells or aromas. Within the Seminar about 150 references are analyzed, as it is a matter of practice and a lot of perseverance.

If we compare a winemaker with a perfumer, both use the sense of smell in a very different way. Their two worlds are actually very different. It is why Alexandre Schmitt has been needed 10 years to adapt and to adjust his knowledge from the perfumery into the wine field. Regarding this point, Alexandre Schmitt says: “Perfume makers and winemakers are not used to smelling in the same concentration of alcohol. Ethanol plays an important role, because it spreads the smell. In perfume, ethanol concentration is around 90°, whereas in wine it usually varies between 12º and 18°. Besides this point, the concentration of aromatic components in perfume usually is around a few grams/litre whereas in wine we can perceive molecules in concentrations of around a microgram/ litre, a million times less concentrated.

More, the compounds are not the same in perfumes and wines. There are molecules in the wine that nobody will ever find in the perfume and vice versa… On the other hand, what is interesting is the fact that perfumers and winemakers, both use their sense of smell and try to identify, analyse, describe and, finally, to memorize smells. Concerning this last point, the advantage goes to the perfume makers, who usually get to know thousands of smells, while winemakers are only able to identify about one hundred different aromas.”

Although the perception and memory of each person is unique and different, everybody has more or less the same sense of smell and we feel the same way, and through an olfactory education, a universal vocabulary to describe aromas can be established.

Before learning to appreciate aromas in wine, original aromas must be recognized through an isolated reference used to give an intense and exact mark on mind. This way, wine professionals can practice in a better way. The idea is to structure their smelling universe and there is no other way to do it.

The reason why influential winemakers of France, United States and other countries trust his consultancy is because it gives them an opportunity to go in depth and specialize in the olfaction world, and at the same time, practice it. Generally, enologists are concentrated in knowing very well the defective molecule and forget that wine is a pleasure.

Andes Wines
andes@andeswines.com
(56) 9-9-219 7117

Translated by Paulina Rojas R.