Students interested in testing their sense of smell gathered at the event hosted by the Spartan Enology Society to hear wine expert and Corporate Chef for MSU Kurt Kwiatkowski discuss wine and the importance of the smells associated with it.

Attendees were able to smell about 40 different scents usually associated with wines, from the expected, such as lemon zest, to the obscure, such as chalk or cut grass, and then were given a chance to guess the scent.

Being able to distinguish between different smells will enable students to pick up on different ingredients and tastes of wine in the future, said John Triblo, hospitality business senior and one of the co-founders of the Spartan Enology Society.

“We started a dry wine club, which sounds crazy at first but we wanted to be able to reach 17- to 20-year-olds before they could drink so they could be more responsible and knowledgeable,” Triblo said. “We want to prep them not just for the industry but for life as well.”

Lansing Community College hospitality business student Lori Fluker said she recently joined the group because she eventually wants to become a professional sommelier, or a wine steward.

“Before you taste wine you really have to know what it smells like,” she said. “Until you know the smells you can’t really fully appreciate it.”

Kwiatkowski said wine has become more mainstream during the past few years.

“Even Meijer is pairing wine with food in their periodicals now,” he said. “One thing I can’t stress enough is that smell is really where it’s at when it comes to wine.”

Hospitality business junior Carly St. John said her interest in wine stemmed from her interest in pairing food and wine.

“I really didn’t know much before this, I just knew I liked the taste,” St. John said.

“An event like this is really useful because I want to get into this field and I want to be able to educate others about it.”