Something that can help you if you are a beginner is to start with broad categories – trying to get too specific right away can get frustrating.
Start by swirling the wine around in your glass. Outside of you looking cool, this helps aerate the wine and release more of its aromas. Then, bring the glass up to your nose, take a big sniff and think about what you are smelling. The first few times it may seem odd, or you may not get a distinct smell right away, but just keep practicing and it will get easier each time. Something that can help you if you are a beginner is to start with broad categories – trying to get too specific right away can get frustrating. For this process, we smell in the following order: fruit, non-fruit, earth and wood. The best practice is to write 3 descriptors – common smells from these categories are dried fruit, citrus, floral, spice, grass, vanilla or dark chocolate.