Wine tasting
While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward.
More informal, recreational tasting may use similar terminology, usually involving a much less analytical process for a more general, personal appreciation.
[2] The Sumerian stories of Gilgamesh in the 3rd millennium BCE differentiate the popular beers of Mesopotamia, as well as wines from Zagros Mountains or Lebanon.
[3] In the fourth century BCE, Plato listed the main flavors of wine, and classified the aromas as "species", or families.
Aristotle proposed a sensory tasting defined by the four elements (air, water, fire, and earth) further deepened by the Roman philosopher Lucretius in the first century BCE.
In 2004, Richard Axel and Linda B. Buck, won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their contribution to the knowledge of the senses of taste and smell.
Alternatively, in order to promote an unbiased analysis, bottles and even glasses may be disguised in a "blind" tasting, to rule out any prejudicial awareness of either vintage or winery.
To ensure impartial judgment of a wine, it should be served blind – that is, without the taster(s) having seen the label or bottle shape.
A taster's judgment can be prejudiced by knowing details of a wine, such as geographic origin, price, reputation, color, or other considerations.
Scientific research has long demonstrated the power of suggestion in perception as well as the strong effects of expectancies.
[8] French researcher Frédéric Brochet "submitted a mid-range Bordeaux in two different bottles, one labeled as a cheap table wine, the other bearing a grand cru etiquette."
Similarly, people have expectations about wines because of their geographic origin, producer, vintage, color, and many other factors.
For example, when Brochet served a white wine he received all the usual descriptions: "fresh, dry, honeyed, lively."
[11] In 2001, the University of Bordeaux asked 54 undergraduate students to taste two glasses of wine: one red, one white.
[16][17][18] Typically, the ideal shape is considered to be wider toward the bottom, with a narrower aperture at the top (tulip or egg-shaped).
[19] The INAO has not submitted a file at the National Institute of Industrial Property, it is therefore copied en masse and has gradually replaced other tasting glasses in the world.
[citation needed] Sweeter wines, being denser, leave thick, viscous streaks (called legs or tears) down the inside of the glass when swirled.
Once inside the mouth, the aromatics are further liberated by exposure to body heat, and transferred retronasally to the olfactory receptor site.
When the wine is allowed to pass slowly through the mouth it presents the connoisseur with the fullest gustatory profile available to the human palate.
When tasting several wines in succession, however, key aspects of this fuller experience (length and finish, or aftertaste) must necessarily be sacrificed through expectoration.
Depending on the country or region, tasting at the winery may incur a small charge to allow the producer to cover costs.
Employing a trained or consumer panel, oenologists may perform a variety of tests on the taste, aroma, mouthfeel and appeal of wines.
Blind tasting and other laboratory controls help mitigate bias and assure statistically significant results.
Wine grape varieties are variously evaluated according to a wide range of descriptors which draw comparisons with other, non-grape flavors and aromas.
