Practically ThereLike a journey that is nearly complete, a thirst about to be quenched or a wish not far from being fulfilled, Practically There is where anticipation and actuality intersect. Here you will find practical solutions, humor, an opinion or two, suggestions, instructions and ruminations on just being. There’s a little something for everyone; sort of like a sampler for the psyche. |
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For the launch of our joint erudition in the ways of wine I think that it is important that we learn a little bit about HOW we taste. Thereby bringing us to WHY we taste and then, logically, WHAT we taste. (I know, there should be a WHO, WHERE and a WHEN in there but I just didn't have a zippy rejoinder to those, so I left them out - writers prerogative!) Now, to start with, you may be, as was I, under the erroneous supposition that it is solely owing to the mouth that we delight in the sweets and the savories of life. WRONG! As it turns out THE NOSE is the hub of the entire tasting experience! Well, who would have thought that the proboscis is in fact the "axis of eating" - I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself.
Ostensibly, this is the way that it works - the vehicle or springboard for the whole process is a little contrivance known as the olfactory epithelium. There, on the wall of the nasal cavity, is where millions of receptors are just sitting around waiting to seize upon any aromatic molecules and finally get back on the time clock and get some work done. So, when these receptors get a hold of a handful of these perfumed particles they immediately fire off a rapid fire memo to the brain; specifically the olfactory cortex, which deciphers and interprets and then clarifies the particular flavors for the benefit of the rest of the body. (Now, keep in mind that there are two different paths that these smidgens of scent can get to the "OC" - through the nose [previously broached a bit] or through the mouth [not broached yet]).
When we are breathing as usual, only a trace of the air that we take in actually makes it all the way to the "OC". BUT, when we have occasion to "nose" a good wine we draw in (air) deeply, sucking in more air then we normally would and more aromatics. This process (as pretentious as it appears) is the first step in a good tasting. Remember, aroma is 90 percent of taste. (Remember the last time that you had a cold, and your nose was stuffed to the brim - couldn't taste a thing, could you?) Moreover, this first good sniff will give you considerable insight as well as a vibrant sense of expectancy as to what you are about to experience. So, that being said - NEVER, NEVER, NEVER even consider allowing a glass of wine to even make an acquaintance with your lips without first savoring its bouquet (fancy talk for smell). In other words, stop and smell the Rosé (OK, that one was just too easy).
This brings us to "Taste Central" and the second path for the aromatics to traverse and guess what? These capricious little wine aromatics simply detonate and explode with flavor when urged on a bit by the warmth and larger surface area that they are exposed to in the mouth. Keep in mind, surface area equals air, air equals aromatics, and aromatics equal happy epithelia's!
Oh, yes, we also have to take into consideration one other thing in this course of action - the tongue. Now the tongue can do one thing other than moisten stamps (there is a joke at hand, but I am not going there) - it can taste salty, bitter, sweetness and acidity. Now, salty and bitter have little or nothing to do with wine. If your wine is salty, you will need to purchase your wine a more reputable vendor. Sweet and acid, though, well that's a whole different story - those two are the dynamic duo of flavor when one is talking wine. Actually, it isn't really flavor that they measure; it is measure that they measure. Do you remember the adage about quantity vs. quality - well, that is pretty much what the tongue does with wine; it quantifies the sweetness and the acidity. It doesn't really "taste" it.
At the very tip of your tongue is a little "receiver" that tells your brain just how sweet a wine is. Then we travel over the upper edges of that very same tongue to find the corresponding sensors for acidity. In concert they will give you a "sense" of how the wine "feels". Interesting.
OK, quick review - How We Taste = epithelium + aromatics + air + sweet + acid + lots of other things that I haven't even mentioned, but you get the idea.
Wow, there is more to this oenophile thing then I had anticipated. I am thinking that I should have learned about brain surgery instead, it seems less complicated.
But that's just me talking.
"For a bad night, a mattress of wine."
- Anonymous
