What does your wine smell like?

Or more specifically, from where does your wine smell? Although my grammar is a bit suspect I'm referring to a phenomenon I have only noticed recently: wines from various regions have a very particular smell.

I suppose in official terms I am referring to the earthy elements that give wine a unique bouquet. The minerals and elements that impact the vine, the grapes, and ultimately the taste and smell of a wine.

But what I really am referring to is the memories that are brought up when you breathe in a great wine. I've heard it said that the part of the brain which registers smell is right next to the cells for memory. Thus, the things we smell trigger memories. In the case of wine, I am curious if memories have the equal and opposite action on how a wine tastes? Do memories of a place picked up by your nose impact the flavor on your tongue?

Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Forest

A few examples. For me Virginia wines when I smell them taste of the Shenandoah mountains when you are hiking the midst of the woods.  The heat of the Mid-Atlantic sun starts to evaporate the dew or wet on the ground from a storm the night before, into the already heaven laden and humid air. Combine that with the smell of fresh cut grass and damp under growth and you have Virginia wine in a glass.

The Pacific meets the Russian River

Or Napa where the scent of dry air combines with the luxury of a honeymoon and the smell of a vineyard exposed to the noon light after a cool, star filled night.

Sonoma smells like the Pacific breeze combined with rocks and hills and valleys and the undertones of a Redwood forest centuries old. Where the valleys of vines meet the crashing of the ocean - all warmed by a temperate sun.

Lake Huron at Sunset

Michigan wines, especially white wines smell like crossing the Michigan Diag in Ann Arbor on a freezing winter day when the cold from the Great Lakes air hits your mouth and invigorates your whole body with a sense of being alive!

And Santa Barbara smells like the Pacific breeze wafting up from Los Angeles and the desert, magnifying the harsh, rocky terrain with the hustle and bustle of humanity.

Spain smells like dry, sun-beaten olive groves, castles and palaces centuries old, and of fresh olives, manchego, and Serrano underneath a brutally hot sun. Oh and add in a side of cigarettes and flamenco and you have Espana in a glass.

Overlooking Olive Groves near Iznajar, Spain

France, or more specifically St. Emillion smells of small villages with meandering streets - overlooking vineyards as far as the eye can see. Where time is not measured in minutes and seconds, but in glasses, bottles, and friends made.  

In short, I never fully can appreciate a wine until I have visited the land where it is from and experienced the culture and people.  What about you? What, or where, does your wine smell like?