Ninety percent

Whether it is beer wine or food, what we taste is more accurately described as what we smell. The fact is that the human palate really contributes little to what we taste, limited to four flavors, sweet, sour, salt and bitter are the only flavors delivered over the palate. Ninety percent of what we taste is actually delivered aromatically through our nose and sinuses. What we taste is, in short, what we smell.

We are the first to admit and defend the more decadent times when we just want to enjoy our favorite drink without much analysis of flavor profiles, finish, structure and the like. We just want to have a glass of wine or beer or spirits and enjoy our choice for what it is. Our job as wine and beer professionals though is more than that. In order to help consumers pick the perfect beverage to fit their taste, their mood and pair best with their food we need to describe the full range of flavors they will find in their glass. It is our job to do the best we can to make sure it will go well with all else our customers will be having with their beverage, and ensure it fits with the mood they want to create.

This is why when we evaluate wine and beer for our wine and beer clubs, for our shelves or for our events and weekly specials we smell. A lot. We spend far more time smelling than we do tasting as we get all of the fruit profiles and the flavors developed by all the parts of the winemaking and beer brewing processes from cooperage and yeast selections to acid levels and the degree of sweetness.

With the palate being limited to the four “flavors” above what we “taste” is more complex and far more complicated. The smelling through the nose part is straightforward, what we don’t always realize though is it does not end there. More and at times different flavors are delivered through our mouths with the aromas crossing the palate and reaching our sinuses through the passages that drain into our throats.

The aromas and therefore the “flavors” that are delivered include those from barrel spice. In wine these include vanilla any of the baking spices savory meaty and earthy notes and pepper among others. With beer similarly any of the spice notes that we pick up as well as the malty flavors are all aroma driven. Both in beer and wine all of the fruit character that we detect present via our sinuses. When you walk through a winery or a vineyard grapes smell like well… grapes. But as the fruit goes through fermentation those profiles change developing aromas of other fruits, cherries, apples and citrus to name a few.

Similarly with beer ingredients including hops wheat and malt all smell like those products are expected to. Once fermented though they change and become more complex and varied and were it not for our sophisticated sense of smell we would never know it, the palate just does not deliver the same level of complexity and depth.

For wine and beer consumers it is easy to experiment with this the next time you have a beverage. For the sensation through your nose get your nose deep into the glass and inhale through your nose deeply. Set the glass down and really focus on what you are smelling and therefore tasting. Give the glass a swirl and repeat the exercise see if you notice any changes.

Now for the aromas delivered over the palate, a bit more tricky. Hold the beer or wine on your palate and pull a stream of air through your lips and across the liquid. Notice the changes and aromas that are delivered to your sinuses. It is OK to swallow now and notice how those aromas and flavors linger and continue to evolve.

It is not expected that you go through this exercise every time you have a glass of beer or wine. We don’t. From time to time though it does reinforce how much of what we taste is driven by what we smell 90 percent to be precise a good reason to plant that nose firmly in the glass and see what we are getting.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or if you have questions on wine, you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com, or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d’Alene Press.

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George Balling is co-owner (with his wife Mary Lancaster) of the dinner party, a wine and table top décor shop located by Costco in Coeur d’Alene. George worked as a judge in many wine competitions, and his articles are published around the country. You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. Be sure and check out our weekly blog at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com/home/blog-2 You can get all of these articles as well as other great wine tips by friending us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.