The Paradox of Wine Tasting

The act of tasting wine is paradoxical. It’s an instinctive process we often take for granted. Yet, wine represents one of the most complex sensory experiences available to us.

Wine is a rare sensory object of our everyday life that engages multiple senses simultaneously:

• Our sense of vision
• Our sense of smell, through aromas perceived orthonasal through the nose and retronasal via the mouth and throat
• Our sense of taste, which detects sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami
• Our sense of touch, which analyzes texture, temperature, and the presence of spicy compounds

Even our sense of hearing is stimulated, whether it's the sound of pouring wine, the cork popping, or the words of the winemaker and sommelier.

Compared to paintings or music, wine engages nearly all senses at once. Each sip ignites a multisensory explosion in the brain, which filters and prioritizes this influx of information, akin to making quick decisions despite complex sensory challenges.

Visual information often dominates our perception: we typically base decisions initially on visual cues. Wine colors can significantly influence our olfactory and gustatory interpretations. A white wine colored with red dye is often described with red fruit notes, although it actually tastes of white fruits.

The intensity of color amplifies this effect, with darker wines perceived as more aromatic. Studies indicate increased activity in taste and smell centers when eyes are closed. Closing one's eyes can intensify olfactory and gustatory perceptions, whereas vision takes precedence when eyes are open.

We usually assess the wine visually before tasting. The brain anticipates flavor based on visual clues, enhancing certain aromas. The sequence of sensory experiences profoundly impacts wine interpretation, and price tags can also skew judgments: an expensive wine often scores higher.

Traditionally, we taste in the order of eye-nose-mouth, affirming previous impressions and distorting flavors. An alternative is the mouth-nose-eye sequence: first, taste and texture, then retronasal smell, lastly visual information. Historically, professional tasters used silver cups (Tastevin) by candlelight to overshadow color and focus on flavor.

Blind tastings in dark or opaque glasses minimize the influence of visual information. This allows aroma judgments to be more accurate, as tasters are not swayed by color. It encourages a conscious discovery of aromas, unhindered by prior knowledge of wine color. Ultimately, the wine can be viewed in a clear glass again — two tastings for the price of one.

Gabriel Lepousez