The Science of Tasting Wine

I am excited to share with you my article that was published in Wine Folly.  It was such an incredible experience to open an email from Madeline Puckett stating that she read my article and thought it was a great fit for her site.  To see this introduction prior to the article was an amazing feeling.

A great explanation of how we humans taste and how to use this information to taste wine. Learn the reasoning behind why we taste wine the way we do. After seeing this great article by Lori from Dracaena Wines, we asked her to share it. Lori was an AP biology teacher who now owns a winery in Paso Robles. She writes to us offering deeper understanding of what taste really is. -Madeline

The Subtle Science of Wine Tasting

My undergrad and graduate degrees were in Biology and those many years as a microbiologist are engrained in me. Although I don’t deal with science on a day-to-day basis anymore (since I now teach Physical Education), I still love the topic. You can take the girl out of science but you can’t take the science out of the girl.

You may be asking yourself “How does wine tie into this topic of science?” Here’s your answer: Tasting wine is science. Of course, you do not need to be a scientist to enjoy wine. Anybody can take a sip of wine out of any old glass and decide whether or not they like it. But to truly “taste” wine, you delve deep into science. You may not even be aware of it–and you don’t need to be,–but you are. Tasting involves using your senses. Everyone knows about senses. The advent of senses is actually credited to Aristotle (384-382 BC). Much later, it was determined that our senses consist of organs with specialized cellular structures that have receptors for specific stimuli. It is with two of these senses we can truly “taste” wine.

Continue reading the entire article on Wine Folly.

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