Why does my glass of Rioja smell like dill?
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Dear Dr. Vinny,
The other night, I shared a bottle of Rioja with a friend. She said the wine smelled strongly of dill, but I couldn’t smell it. It just smelled like a nice Rioja to me. Was I missing something?
—Alice, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Dear Alice,
First things first: Everyone’s nose is different. What smelled like dill to your friend might have smelled like something else to you. There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to tasting wine for pleasure—sometimes, you just don’t smell what someone else does, and that’s OK.
Sometimes, of course, a friend might point your nose in the right direction, so to speak, and help you experience something you weren’t expecting. (Those are the best kind of friends!) Part of the joy of tasting and talking about wine with other people is picking up new descriptors for aromas and flavors you might not have a name for.
But why might your friend have smelled dill on that wine, you ask? The answer has to do largely with oak. Traditionally, red wines from Rioja, in Spain, are made from the Tempranillo grape and aged in American oak barrels, which are partly responsible for the distinctive character of the wines. While some vintners in Rioja use French oak—a choice that’s become more popular in recent years—American oak remains the traditional choice. Some people tend to smell a dill note on some wines aged in American oak. For some, that aroma can even be a clue about what wine is likely in their glass during a blind tasting.
To better understand how certain aromas get into a wine, let’s get into some oaky specifics. Generally speaking, French barrels are known for imparting subtle, spicy notes and producing wines with silky textures. American barrels tend to be more intense, often adding notes of vanilla or coconut and creamier textures. And yes, dill is another descriptor commonly associated with wines aged in American oak.
It’s worth noting that oak production has changed a lot over the decades, and many of the generalizations about American vs. French oak no longer hold true. There is some remarkably elegant American oak being used by winemakers, and the resulting wines may not display those stereotypical, over-the-top coconut and dill notes. While American oak was often used in the past simply because it was cheaper than French, many winemakers continue to embrace it because they like the resulting wine. It’s also become associated with the traditional style in some places, such as Rioja.
The type of oak isn’t the only factor that decides how a barrel might impact a wine’s aromas and flavors. Different levels of toast (how charred the inside of the barrel gets before the wine is put in) can have markedly different impacts on the wine. How long a wine stays in the barrel (which can range from months to years) will affect the intensity of the wood’s influence. Newer barrels will have more intense results, while older barrels will faciliate some beneficial oxygen exposure but be fairly neutral in terms of adding flavor. I’m guessing your dill-y Rioja was aged in a high percentage of especially intense, new American oak.
The bottom line is that there’s no guarantee that you’re going to get a dill note in Rioja. The oak might be really integrated into the wine, or the barrel used might not have beeen particularly dill-y. And as you discovered, not everyone will smell that aroma in all cases, or identify it as dill specifically.
It’s also possible that you didn’t pick out that dill aroma because you’re not that familiar with dill. I grew up with the herb in my childhood garden, and I cook with it all the time. If you only ever encounter dill in the occasional pickle chip, I’m guessing it might not stand out to you, especially in a context (red wine) where you’re probably not expecting or looking for it. It never hurts to spend more time in the produce and spice aisle, explore essential oils, and smell every candle you can possibly stick your nose in. The more you test your nose and get more olfactory experiences, the more vivid descriptors you’ll have at hand when tasting wine. Cheers!
—Dr. Vinny
