1/6/09 Taste Buds vs Smell

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. Today we are continuing our series exploring the basics of tasting and understanding wine as we address the impact that smelling has on our ability to taste. As we discussed yesterday, the surface of our tongue is covered with taste buds, and although some may be more sensitive in areas, all are able to perceive the sensations of sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Moving the wine around in your mouth allows all of the taste buds to be stimulated. However, let me caution you not to rely too heavily upon your mouth to determine flavors. You do not actually taste things like vanilla or chocolate, you smell them. As I often emphasize 70 percent or better of you ability to perceive flavor comes from your olfactory senses, not your mouth. With that in mind, what you look for when tasting the wine is balance and the sensations and proportions of sweetness and acidity and bitterness in the wine. If one dominates the other, it should be in pleasing proportions, so the wine remains in balance and is a good example of its grape variety and intended style. The nasal passages are amazing and this is primarily why a description of a wine is given in terms of what it smells like  as that is actually what influences what it will taste like. Not because there is any vanilla or chocolate or berry added to the wine. Remember to send your wine questions and ideas for new topics to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thanks for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.