A collaboration between Food Science lecturer Kathleen Arnink and Urban Horticulture Institute director Nina Bassuk came to fruition this week when Bassuk and her staff planted a new Wine Scent Garden along the south side of Stocking Hall.
“The garden will be used by Viticulture and Enology students to train themselves to identify odors that are perceived in wines,” says Arnink, who teaches courses such as Introduction to Wines and Vines and Principles and Practices of Growing Grapes and Making Wines.
“This fall, students in the Wines and Vines lab will spend time in the garden exploring and sniffing with labels near the plants to help them learn the correct terminology to use when they smell these odors in wines,” adds Arnink. “I can also cover the labels later to quiz them to see what they’ve learned.”
Some of the common wine aromas represented in the garden include:
- Rose, found in Muscat grapes and wines
- Lemon, lime, pineapple and grass, perceived in many white wines
- Licorice, curry, chocolate and tobacco, common descriptors for red wine odors
Bassuk’s planting list included several mints (Mentha spp.) and scented geraniums (Pelargonium spp.), bronze fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), curry plant (Helichrysum italicum), bee balm (Monarda spp.) and more.
The close proximity to classrooms in Stocking Hall is a big plus. “During crush, when students are making wines, it will be handy to say to them, ‘Run out and sniff these plants, and see if you can smell those odors in your Riesling.’”
fantastic