Sense of Smell

Geek: Belgian beers: Grip lightly with two fingers and thumb, extend pinky. Ring fingers is bored. Talk with other silly belgain beer drinkers about the fruit and herbs in the beer. Wonder outloud who thought this stuff up. American common beers: Grip with fist, drink as quickly as possible, avoiding taste analysis as much as possible (not much to avoid). Artisnal ales, porters, stouts: Firm grip using all fingers, no stinkin' pinky extended, enjoy the taste. Good wine: Grab the stem of the glass firmly with fingers, thumbs. Who cares about the pinky. Not so good wine: Life's too short. from the left coast

Ummm. Just go watch Sideways again and have another glass of Merlot.

Originally posted by Glenn Ummmmm, could someone get back to the original question? Does chlorine effect your sense of smell? Thank you. Glenn:) I think the point is from all the posts is -- yes it may, However whatever you may be digesting we all have personal favorites and flavors we like. If somebody likes to discern the various flavor and aromas to be able to say they caught that hint of butter/oak flavor so be it - (I'm partial to the hint of chlorine bringing out the full force of the wine). Be it a good pour of half and Half or an aged red blend.... well the Half and Half would better suit swimming as this would enhance your carbo loading as opposed to wine. Bottoms Up!

I have often thought that swimming has affected my sense of smell and the cause of my low threshold to heat. When I was very young (age 8-10), my physician made me wear nose clips because my sinuses were so bad from swimming. There is a recent thread on this issue. I am a wine lover myself and I will not be retiring to Florida or Arizona, but I will be somewhere in Sonoma County when I retire. While I can't necessarily smell all of the different fruits and "trees" in the wine, I certainly can taste it and I don't let it diminish my love of wine. On the bright side, when there is a "bad" smell in the air - I don't have nearly the reaction my husband does who can smell anything from a mile away. Geek, you don't know what you are missing.

Kataba - the winoes choice 90cents a bottle, when I was a cop. Drink it before you go to bed, next morning a glass of water and you would be drunk again. You did not have to smell it, it paralized all senses.

Thanks all for your responses. In no way does the fact that I have trouble discerning the subtle tastes in wine inhibit my enjoyment. In fact I suppose it might even be a plus since I can enjoy a bottle of 2 Buck Chuck as well as that $40 bottle we had last night - which was good, but not $38 better than the Trader Joe's model. One thing that does not change however, was that my workout this morning was not quite as good as usual and that may have something to do with the 3 bottles the four of us enjoyed last night!!! Glenn;)

Glenn, I have googled your query and have not been able to find any scientific research or articles on point. I would not let an inability to perceive certain tones or notes in the scent of a wine indicate anything. I enjoy good wine, I breath it in and perceive it through my olfactory senses . . . but that doesn't mean I agree with or can detect some of the notes that others may. I can also tell when I step in dog poo. So I'd say that my olfactory senses remain in tact despite frequent contact with cholorinated water. But that is, of course, merely anecdotal . . . and probably all you will find in response. Your mileage may vary. carl

Based on my experience, I would say not. In my college swimming days, I recorded personal highs in terms of yardage swum and time spent in the water. I was also one of the few folks in my group that could go to a kegger, taste a cup of mystery beer, and correctly ID the brand of beer. (In the early 80s, when domestic beer was even more dumbed-down and bland than it is today.) Of course, it also might have been that I consumed less beer in general, and was more likely to still have use of my taste buds when I sampled the suds. Please note your inability to detect aromas of extinct tropical vegitation, the show room of a furniture store, or that oh so special "new car smell" in a bottle of wine (made from grapes grown in Saint Genevieve, MO) may have more to do with your so-called "uneducated palate" such that you don't note those intricacies. Some call this a deficiency; others call it evidence of having a life. Does anyone remember the Sinbad movie "Houseguest"? The scene with the oh-so-educated wine expert who rattled off his list of things he wants in a wine, then goes through a full 60 second ritual of sampling it, up to an including the part where he gargles with it. Sinbad's take was that he sounded like he was with a woman, and he guessed that some people drank wine, while others dated. Matt

I swimming does affect our sense of smell. I think chlorine deadens our smelling organs. I'm not a very sensitive smeller. I believe my wife, a non swimmer, has a much better sense of smell than I do. I think the ability to detect subtle fragrances in wines falls in the "Wine Snob" category. Like that guy in the movie "Sideways" You'll see the language on the bottle or on the web like www.badgermtnvineyard.com/bmvwine.htm I wonder if they can really smell it or did they just read it somewhere? I think those kind of descriptions help vinters sell their wines and justify their prices. I am not a good aroma detector but I do appreciate a nice cabernet or Pinot. by the way I loved the dialog from this scene from "Sideways" Memorable Quotes from Sideways (2004) Miles Raymond: What about you? Maya: What about me? Miles Raymond: I don't know. Why are you into wine? Maya: Oh I... I think I... I originally got in to wine through my ex-husband. Miles Raymond: Ah. Maya: You know, he had this big, sort of show-off cellar, you know. Miles Raymond: Right. Maya: But then I discovered that I had a really sharp palate. Miles Raymond: Uh-huh. Maya: And the more I drank, the more I liked what it made me think about. Miles Raymond: Like what? Maya: Like what a fraud he was. Maya: No, I- I like to think about the life of wine. Miles Raymond: Yeah. Maya: How it's a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing; how the sun was shining; if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve, like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I'd opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive. And it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks, like your '61. And then it begins its steady, inevitable decline. Miles Raymond: Hmm. you can read more at: www.imdb.com/.../quotes ande Originally posted by Glenn Does swimming effect your sense of smell? My wife and I recently had a lovely dinner with a person very knowledgable about wines. We are both wine lovers and appreciated his wonderful "wine lesson". However, when he got into the description of the wines in terms of berrys and oak and leather etc I had to stop him and say that I can sometimes detect a raisin taste or maybe even a blackberry taste but I have never been able to get any of those other subtle tastes that the wine experts use to describe wines. So he asked me if I had sinus problems or something else that might effect my sense of smell. Well, the only thing I could think of was chlorine. Does anyone have any thoughts or information on wether 30 plus years of swimming and breathing that wonderful chlorine smell could have ruined or at least altered my sense of smell? If so I may go to exclusively drinking 2 Buck Chuck!!! Glenn:)

Originally posted by Guvnah I'm the designated cat litter changer... LOL! Me too! :p