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Good friends, go in, and taste some wine with me,
And we, like friends, will straightway go together.
-Wm. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 2, Sc. 2

We wine drinkers are a fortunate bunch. We have so many ways in which to enjoy that beverage of the ages. Our ability to taste and smell gives us an untold amount of enjoyment and pleasure. This gift comes as one of our natural assets. To appreciate a wine fully, it should be chosen with anticipation for a pleasurable experience. It should be served at a proper temperature—usually, 62 to 64 degrees Fahrenheit for reds and a few degrees cooler for whites (which are usually chilled). Also, it should be served in the correct glass. Heavy-cut glass is out; it does nothing but hinder and detract from the enjoyment of drinking the wine. Only proper stem glasses should be used. These always have a standard oval shape, and are clear and thin-walled. (These attributes enable the drinker to view the color and density of the wine.) They are available in various sizes, but the usual serving glass conveniently holds about six ounces of wine.

Personal Taste
Recently, I have had reason to believe that my own, personal tasting ability is less than that of others who have a more experienced taste perception. I have become aware of this difference by reading the reports of wine experts, in which they give their opinions of a new or different wine that they have just tasted. Many of these opinions are simple descriptions of the particular grape that makes up the wine, but the taster often says that he or she detects hints of various fruits, such as apricots, apples, or blackberries. The taster might also have found nuances of many other scents that I am never able to detect. I have gone so far as to buy a bottle of the same variety, label, and year as reported by the writer. I have then tried many tastings of my own, but have failed to find anything in taste other than the basic wine. Therefore, I must conclude that my tasting ability is inferior to that of the experienced professional.

This conclusion prompted me to investigate how my physical sensing abilities are put together. My amateur research leads me to reading scientific material that offers explicit descriptions of the human body parts that contribute to smell and taste functions. I learn that my tongue, throat, and nose have what are commonly known as taste buds that can detect the five basic taste sensations, those being:

• salty
• sour
• sweet

• bitter

• umani

(Umani is a recently discovered sensation by Western tastes, but has been recognized in Japan for a long time. It is a Japanese word for “savory” or “meaty.”)

Each of these sensation perceptions is achieved through separate groups of nerves in the nose, mouth, and throat, then goes to the brain, where it is identified as to which of the five tastes is involved. These groups of nerves are activated by molecules from the substance that is being tasted.

The Nose: That Ol’ Factory
It has been determined that over 70 percent of our taste is the result of our ability to smell. Certain nerves in the nose are necessary to identify tastes that are more subtle than the basic five taste sensations. Smell depends on a small patch of tissue high in the nasal cavity that is known technically as the olfactory epithelium. Airborne (or odorant) molecules dissolve in mucus and start a complicated process that the brain evaluates to identify a particular odor. Humans can identify the difference between many thousands of odorant molecules. How this is accomplished can only be described in terms that are too complicated for this writer to use.

Expert Taste
My interest in taste and smell has led me to ask the experts if there are ways, through taste and smell, to appreciate more fully the wine that we drink.

The following are suggestions that were agreed upon by several experts:

1. Pour, and look at the color.

2. Sniff, but do not taste.

3. Taste with enough to slosh around in your mouth while you inhale some air.

4. Swallow and, after a comfortable time, observe if the taste persists. (This is called the “aftertaste” or “finish.”)

5. Take a second good swallow, and evaluate against the first taste.

This procedure might or might not increase your appreciation of the wine, but it will help you to appreciate the relationship between taste and smell.

Finishing Notes
I personally conducted a survey among friends and asked their reaction to the aforementioned procedure. As might be expected, there was a variety of responses. Some said that they experienced a stronger taste when they inhaled air while swallowing. Others did not detect any difference in their taste before or after using the suggestions. A few were undecided. My own tasting left me also undecided.

I have concluded that the appreciation of wine is based on the taste of the individual, who has much pleasure to look forward to.

Glenn Robert Uhlmann is a Contributor to WineSquire.com

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