Wine aroma kits, designed to hone tasting skills by isolating specific scents found in wine, have garnered praise and criticism from sommeliers and wine students. These kits typically include a variety of vials containing distinct aromas meant to represent the bouquet components of different wines.
Pros of Wine Aroma Kits
Professionals in the wine industry, particularly educators and sommeliers, appreciate these kits for their educational value. Kits offer aromas ranging from fruits and flowers to more unexpected scents like leather and tobacco. These kits help train the nose, enhancing one’s ability to identify and describe wine characteristics precisely, which is crucial for wine tasting and making.
The kits are often used for training and in academic settings, such as enology courses at institutions like UC Davis and sommelier certifications at the National Wine School.
Cons of Wine Aroma Kits
However, the kits are not without detractors. Some users find the cost prohibitive, as comprehensive kits can be expensive. Additionally, there are occasional criticisms about the intensity of the scents, with some users finding them too faint, which can diminish their effectiveness as a training tool.
Brands and Their Offerings
Aromaster
This new brand offers strikingly similar products to Le Nez du Vin at a slight discount. It provides general and specific kits with a broad spectrum of scents and is widely marketed in the US and UK wine markets. Aromaster Limited is a Chinese-owned company incorporated in the UK in 2024. One of the significant downsides of this brand is the lack of well-written guides.
Top Wine Aroma Kits from Aromaster
Master Wine Aroma Kit (88 Aromas)
While extensive, this kit seems to be a knock-off of Le Nez du Vin’s original Master kit. It covers a wide range of wine scents but falls short of delivering high-quality scents. Our team found the scents to be inconsistent and diluted.
Master Whisky Aroma Kit (88 Aromas)
This kit is an educational tool for whisky lovers but is often viewed as lacking the depth offered by more established, original brands.
Wine Faults Aroma Kit (12 Aromas)
This particular kit focuses on identifying common wine faults. It serves a functional purpose, but our researchers stated the scent quality is not as consistent as that of its French counterpart.
Le Nez du Vin
This brand was launched in 1977 and is used primarily by French sommeliers and some winemakers. Over the decades, the brand has expanded internationally and now offers kits for the whisky and coffee trades. Each kit comes with a detailed manual to help you use it.
These kits can be invaluable to sommeliers worldwide; critics argue that the kits simplify complex aromas and potentially standardize sensory experiences, which could limit a more profound, personalized understanding of wine nuances. Despite this, Le Nez du Vin remains a cornerstone in olfactory training within the beverage industry.
Top Wine Aroma Kits from Le Nez du Vin
The Master Kit (54 Aromas)
This comprehensive set is the most extensive, covering a wide range of aromas found in wines worldwide. It includes fruity, floral, vegetal, spicy, animal, and roasted notes, making it a fundamental resource for wine education].
The 24 Aroma Duo Kit
This kit serves as an intermediate collection, combining essential aromas from red and white wines, including champagne. It’s designed to help enthusiasts and professionals memorize and identify the most common wine aromas.
The Ultimate Somm Kit
This kit includes the 54 aromas from the Master Kit and additional kits for wine faults and oak aromas. This all-encompassing set aims to provide a complete aromatic education in one package, making it highly cost-effective and ideal for serious learners and professionals.
National Wine School
The National Wine School uses wine aroma kits in their sommelier training programs. The most popular kit is used in the L2 Sommelier Program, which is one of the programs we offer here in Chicago. They also have kits used for oak aging, white wine, and red wine. They have a very informative article on the science behind wine aroma kits. There is also some very good information about these kits in this article written by Keith Wallace, one of the top academics in the wine trade.
Summary
Wine aroma kits are a valuable tool for sommeliers and wine enthusiasts, offering a tangible way to enhance olfactory skills crucial for wine assessment. While the benefits of using these kits in educational and professional settings are widely recognized, the cost and variability in scent intensity can be drawbacks. Brands like Aromaster and Le Nez du Vin stand out for their quality and comprehensive educational content, making them top choices among professionals. As these kits evolve, they remain essential to the sommelier’s toolkit for mastering wine.
