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.

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Short Review on April Wine

The Flavors Of Wine


Although the four main flavors - sweet, salty, sour, and bitter are all your tongue is really capable of tasting, the long lasting impression that win...


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Louis Affree - "Clos du chapitre"


Another great 2000 Burgundy under Dufouleur's "Louis Affre" label. This Fixin Premier Cru demonstrated exceptionally sweet, concentrated Pinot fruit when tasted in February (2002). The wines of Fixin are often known for being on the 'light' side, however many of the better vineyards share the qualities of the best of their neighbor, Gevrey-Chambertin. The "Clos du Chapitre" is certainly a dry red wine of high breeding, with the power and depth of a fine Gevrey. Great gift from France! FCA00 FCA00


Price: 61.99 USD



Headlines on #kw1 for November 2007 #

Suit filed in Route 80 DWI death (Daily Record)

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:13:33 GMT
The father of a 2005 Roxbury High School graduate, killed in a drunken driving crash on Route 80 last year, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the driver and others he believes were drinking with his 18-year-old son before he died.

St. Pancras Champagne Bar Sells Krug 1949 Vintage (Update1) (Bloomberg.com)

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 10:08:41 GMT
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The Champagne Bar at St. Pancras International station in London has sold one of its two top-priced bottles of Krug Collection 1949 and the buyer may have a bargain.

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Tonight?s the night. You?ve got that special dinner party with friends and you want it to be perfect. You?ve got the menu completed but the question is which wine will compliment the meal best? Here are some tips for choosing fine wine.



Lighter foods need lighter wines while heartier foods need full bodied wines. For example, fish is light and thus a wine like Pinot Noir goes very nicely because it is also light.



The way the food is prepared will also influence the type of wine you choose. Whether your meal is grilled or roasted as well as the spices you use will affect your wine choice.



Bitter foods need a fruity wine that will compliment it, such as a Chardonnay or Merlot. Shiraz or some of the other heavy tannic red wines go great with a grilled steak because the fat in the meat tones down the bitterness in the wine.



Foods that are salty or oily go much better with a wine that?s higher in acid like Pinot Noir or Sauvignon Blanc. Sweet foods do much better with a slightly sweet dry wine such as Riesling or Chenin Blanc.



Dry wines, both red and white, work well with a wider selection of foods so if in doubt go this route. A general rule of thumb is that you want your wine to offer a nice contrast from your food but you don?t want it to clash.



The most important tip to remember is that wine is about taste and it?s a personal choice so trust your taste buds. It?s always a good idea to test a wine before purchasing it, and don?t base your wine buying decisions on what your friends or family say. Use your own palate to make your choices.



You should also be patient with yourself because learning to buy good wine has quite a learning curve. The best way to learn is try many different wines and expand your wine cellar. People tend to find a wine they like and then stick with it spending little time experimenting with other wines. Why not explore other wines and find some other great choices?



The price of wine doesn?t dictate the quality. Of course many would like you to believe it does but the British Columbia wine industry is proving that?s just not so, producing some top quality wines at a fraction of the cost of imported wines. Of course, as with many things, best costs more but there are plenty of excellent choices and it really does pay to shop around.



Always put together your wine cabinet with thought. Think about your budget, the types of food you most often serve, and how much entertaining you do. Set aside the most expensive wines for those special occasions and serve the less expensive, but still delicious, wines for your daily use.



These tips for choosing fine wine will have your wine cabinet looking very healthy in no time and your wines will compliment your meals nicely!

About the Author:

Gray Rollins is a featured writer for GreatWineTips.com. For more wine tips and to learn how to make wine, visit us.