Although the four main flavors - sweet, salty,
sour, and bitter are all your tongue is really capable of
tasting, the long lasting impression that wine leaves in your
mouth is far more complex. When you drink or taste wine, your
taste buds and your sense of smell are involved, adding to the
way you interpret wine overall. The flavors, aromas, and
sensations that wine is comprised of provide the interaction
that you taste when you sample wine.
Sweetness is something that wines are well known for. With most
types of wine, grapes are responsible for the sweet taste.
Grapes contain a lot of sugar, which breaks the yeast down into
alcohol. The grapes and yeast that were used to produce the wine
will leave behind various sugars, which your tongue will be able
to quickly detect. Once your tongue detects these various
sugars, the stimulation of sweetness from the wine will be ever
so present in your mouth.
Alcohol is also present in wine, although your tongue doesn’t
really know how to decipher the taste of alcohol. Even though
the tongue doesn’t really taste alcohol, the alcohol is present
in the mouth. The alcohol found in wine will dilate blood
vessels and therefore intensify all of the other flavors found
in the wine. After you have samples a few types of wine, the
alcohol level can easily have an effect on your taste buds,
making it hard to distinguish other drinks that you may have.
Another flavor is acidity, which will effect the sugars. With
the proper balance of acidity, the overall flavor of wine can be
very overwhelming. Once you taste wine that contains it, the
flavor of the acidity will be well known to your tongue.
Although acidity is great with wine, too much of it will leave a
very sharp taste. With the right levels, acidity will bring the
flavors of the grape and fruits alive in your mouth - providing
you with the perfect taste.
Yet another effect of flavor are tannins, which are the proteins
found in the skins of grapes and other fruits. If a wine has the
right amount of tannins, it will give your tongue a great feel,
and bring in the sensations of the other flavors. Once a wine
starts to age, the tannins will begin to breakdown in the
bottle, giving you a softer feel to the taste. Tannins are
essential for the taste of wine - providing the wine has been
properly aged.
The last flavor associated with wine is oak. Although oak isn’t
put into the wine during the manufacturing process, it is
actually transferred during the aging process, as most wines
will spend quite a bit of time in oak barrels. Depending on how
long the wine is left in the oak barrel or cask, the ability to
extract the flavor will vary. Most often times, wine will be
aged just enough to where the oak taste is visibly there - and
adds the perfect sentiment to the taste.
Although there are other flavors involved with the taste of
wine, they aren’t as present as those listed above. The above
flavors are the most present in wine, and also the flavors that
you need to get more familiar with. Before you try to taste wine
or distinguish flavors, you should always learn as much you can
about the components responsible for the flavors. This way - you
will know more about what you are tasting and you’ll truly be
able to appreciate wine.
