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 does not really know how to decipher the taste of alcohol. Even though the tongue does not 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 is not 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 are not 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 will truly be able to appreciate wine.

About the Author

Paul Duxbury writes extensively about Wine. You can read more of his articles at Fine Wines

Another short Sparkling Wine review

Who Says You Can't Drink White Wine with Spicy Food


Common wisdom asserts that you divide your wine choices into three categories; white for fish and poultry, red for beef and rose for whatever doesn't ...


Click Here to Read More About Wine ...

Sparkling Wine Items For Viewing

The FTD Floral Burst Arrangement - Standard


This multicolored bouquet delivers a wide assortment of garden blooms. Orange gerbera daisies, pink spray roses, orange carnations, purple asters and more are sweetly arranged in a handled basket. A terrific way to brighten someone's day. C21-3463S


Price: 59.99 USD



Headlines on Sparkling Wine

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Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:31:57 PDT
Bordeaux producers are struggling to generate excitement over the 2007 vintage, with visiting press and trade wary of both the quality of the wines and the likely prices.

Eagle County clothes kids in Central America (Vail Daily)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:42:47 PDT
VAIL — The Eagle County based Central America Foundation (CAF) will host a School Uniform Drive for Limon, Nicaragua from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday at Samana Lounge in Vail Village. A $20 donation at the door sponsors one child in need of a school uniform.

ESCONDIDO: Cruisin' Grand returns Friday night for summer run (North County Times)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:09:55 PDT
ESCONDIDO ---- There will be something new under the hood Friday when organizers of Cruisin' Grand kick off the ninth year of the weekly classic car shows.

The Taste of Cool in a Pinot Noir (New York Times)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:02:12 PDT
While the California weather recently has been conducive to ripe, rich pinot noirs, the 2005 vintage in Northern California was an exception.

Mall’s pedestrian walkway reopens (Winchester Star)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:02:20 PDT
Winchester — It just got easier to walk to the Loudoun Street Mall. The pedestrian walkway between the Braddock Street parking garage and the downtown mall reopened to the public on Tuesday for the first time since October.

The Cheese Titans: Three Women Who Changed American Cheese (The Gourmet Retailer)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:04:20 PDT
Ti-tan *a person or thing of very great strength, intellect, or importance: a titan of American industry. -- The New Oxford American Dictionary In our not-so-distant agrarian past, both here and in Europe, cheesemaking was typically the responsibility of the women of the house.

Why Shorting the Dollar Now Could Be a Big Mistake - Money Morning

Why Shorting the Dollar Now Could Be a Big Mistake Money Morning - Mar 31, 2008 More troubling is the fact the most unlikely and unsophisticated “investors” are now speculating against the dollar – wine merchants and antique shop owners ...

Labels: Wine Appreciation

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