Smelling Grasse

We had a wonderful afternoon in Grasse. They were celebrating their annual Rose Festival and while the streets were lively they were surprisingly pleasant and uncrowded.

The Musee International de la Parfumerie or Perfume Museum was fascinating, not only because of the history of fragrance but also because of the displays on olfactory science. So how does that fit into a blog about food and wine?? I truly have no interest in drinking or eating perfume products, but I will wholeheartedly promote the importance of smell in the culinary world. As anyone with head cold congestion can tell you, our sense of taste is almost completely dependent on the olfactory system. When it comes to the things we consume, olfactory is so important to humans that companies like ScentSational Technologies, are popping up to use artificial means to manipulate the sense of smell in the marketing of food and drinks.


Of course, anyone in the wine industry can vouch for the importance of smell. The human tongue can only detect four taste sensations but when we swirl that glass we're awakening thousands of nerve cells or chemoreceptors in the upper part of the nasal septum. I love the process and ceremony of discovering a wine's bouquet; speculating, deciphering and discussing the smells. Enologists have taken that process to new levels and have isolated certain compounds that are responsible for a particular odor in the wine. For example, its not really fruit, apple peel or strawberry that you smell in your glass but chemicals called ethyl butanoate and ethyl hexanoate. But don't let the science detract from the romance and camaraderie of parsing out a wine with friends - breathing in a great bouquet will always be a coveted experience no matter how chemicals are identified.The final photo (below on the right) we took to keep as a reminder. Trust me, there are some American pop songs which should never be sung in French. :)