Wine studies #2

Hello,

Today we started the tasting process but not yet with wine.

First my professor wanted us to see how the wines could attack different parts of our tongue and have different intensity. 

We first started with a sugar solution. Most of the sensation came from the back of the palate. When compared to water the sugar solution is rounder, softer and heavier on the tongue. Also the sugar solution is more viscous than water.

Citric acid (tasted like lemon water)

 The citric acid seemed to attack the middle and back palate. It also tasted very sour and bitter. Compared to the sugar solution it was harder and heavier.

Tartaric acid

This acid attacked very strongly in the front palate, fell in the mid palate, and then grew slightly again in the back palate. This was the most bitter out of all of the samples and it was the hardest out of the samples. Also Tartaric acid contains Aperitif, which cleanses the palate and stimulates appetite. This is also found in sorbet and wine. This is what some places will give you sorbet between meals.

American Oak water solution

This tasted exactly what I think the inside of an oak tree would taste like. The sensation came in the back part of the mid palate. It tasted woody and made my top lip feel dry. This was a result of the Tannins in it. We tasted this to allow us to pick this out as a secondary taste. 

This session was very interesting but also challenging. It was hard at first to determine where the flavors were on the palate because I have never thought about that before when tasting food/drink. I also learned about words like softer/ harder and heavier/ lighter. Softer and harder are distinguished but the way they feel and roll of the tongue. If it easily rolls off the tongue it is probably softer and if it does not glide off the tongue it is harder. Heavier and light describe the physical weight of the liquid on the tongue. This was a very eye opening experience and I cant wait to use my new knowledge.

~Karli