First smell the wine when it is still — before you swirl it in the glass — then swirl it around and smell it again immediately after swirling, as the wine settles. There is usually a difference between these two states, especially with finer, more mature wines.
Wines made from noble grape varieties have particularly distinct smells: Cabernet Sauvignon, for example, reminds most people of blackcurrants, Gewurztraminer of lychees and Turkish delight. Grape variety is the first thing to try to identify when "nosing" a wine.
The most frequently found non-grape smells are those of the wood in which the wine has been aged — particularly those associated with new oak: cedar, vanilla and caramel for example.
Winetasters, when smelling, use a combination of short and deeper sniffs, very gentle and also much sharper sniffs. Think about what the smells remind you of.
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