{"id":9515,"date":"2020-05-27T16:38:39","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T20:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/?p=9515"},"modified":"2020-05-27T16:38:55","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T20:38:55","slug":"can-wine-be-chewy-understanding-mouthfeel-in-our-perceptions-of-taste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/2020\/05\/27\/can-wine-be-chewy-understanding-mouthfeel-in-our-perceptions-of-taste\/","title":{"rendered":"Can wine be chewy? Understanding mouthfeel in our perceptions of taste"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post, by Gastronomy student Amy Johnson, is part of our series from students in MET ML619, the Science of Food and Cooking.\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSo this one is a bit of a trust fall,\u201d a blonde waitress explains to me. I sit idly, my curiosity intrigued. \u201cIt\u2019s punchy, grippy, but definitely one of my favorites.\u201d She carefully pours the liquid into the thin-framed wine glass directly in front of me.<\/p>\n

As the waitress walks away, I hear snickers from my partner. \u201cGrippy?\u201d he asks with a cocked eyebrow. He watches me swirl the red inky liquid in its glass, take a sip, and nod approvingly \u2014 his eyebrow still raised in question.<\/p>\n

This \u201ctrust fall\u201d is actually a glass of Nebbiolo, a red wine native to the Piedmont area of Italy. It harbors some common taste descriptors such as rose and black cherry, coupled with leather, clay pot, and star anise. As my taste buds perceive these flavors, I attempt to determine the wine\u2019s grippy-ness. It is, perhaps, a combination of ethyl phenol and vinyl guaiacol. These compounds are joined together with the molecules commonly found in an oak barrel fermentation, which contains lactones (or is that benzaldehyde?) and is thus digging into my taste receptors, drawing out its moisture. I second guess myself \u2014 I\u2019m detecting octenol<\/em>, not benzaldehyde!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all quite dizzying, no? Ladies and gentlemen, I\u2019d like to welcome you to the world of wine. In this lesson, we\u2019ll discuss the role of mouthfeel in our perception of taste. Follow along, and feel free to ask questions if you need to.<\/p>\n

Before we begin, it’s important to note the differences in mouthfeel versus taste. Though the act of perceiving mouthfeel is typically done in conjunction with taste, it is<\/em> a separate sense. Wine experts often reference mouthfeel in blind tastings in order to distinguish a wine\u2019s unique characteristics; it is not uncommon to hear the words chewy, fleshy, or grippy mentioned during a wine tasting among top sommeliers. As Wine Spectator\u2019s<\/a><\/span> glossary of terms explains, \u201cMouthfeel\u00a0is influenced by\u00a0wine\u00a0components, as acidity can be sharp, alcohol can be hot, tannins can be rough and sugar can be thick or cloying.\u201d This type of tactile vocabulary allows sommeliers to discern one wine from another. But confusion ensues for the novice drinker who attempts to understand that a liquidus substance, such as wine, can have textural elements.<\/p>\n

However, when these descriptors are applied to more everyday products, the lines aren\u2019t so blurred. The typical wine novice might be stumped at the difference between a wine with viscosity and a wine that\u2019s astringent. Yet this same consumer may shamelessly dump creamer in their coffee while scuffing at the idea of drinking black coffee. Why? Because they enjoy the viscosity, or \u201cweight,\u201d of the added cream and dislike the bitterness associated with black coffee. Cream adds body to the caffeinated liquid, cutting through its otherwise tannic qualities. This is how we can perceive the mouthfeel of liquids, and ultimately identify perceptions of taste.<\/p>\n

Another way of understanding mouthfeel in its relation to taste is to focus on the wine\u2019s components. For most white wines, this is acidity, and for most red wines, this is tannins. Tannins are astringent compounds that grip at the sides of your mouth, drying out the taste receptors. Acidity is a bit more linear in its description, partly because we have all experienced the zing!<\/em> of a fresh orange. Consumers can also identify acidity in different scales. For example, most consumers prefer the taste of fresh oranges, some might also prefer fresh grapefruit, and almost no one enjoys biting into a lemon<\/a><\/span>. These varying levels of acidity can give wine its crispiness, another category of mouthfeel. In an article titled The Indescribable Texture of Wine<\/em>, wine writer Eric Asimov notes, \u201cToo much acidity and a wine can feel harsh and aggressive. Too little and it feels flabby and shapeless. During the making of a wine, the acidity can evolve from the crispness of malic acids in the direction of softer lactic acids. Interestingly, lactic acids often provide a creamy texture to a wine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus far, we have identified flavor, viscosity (weight), tannins, acidity, crispness, and even creaminess. But arguably the most important, and most difficult to comprehend, is the discussion of a wine\u2019s astringency.<\/p>\n

\"\"As noted in the red wine mouthfeel wheel developed by Gawel et al., astringent-like descriptors make up more than half of the terminology employed in wine tasting. Astringency is particularly important in the role of mouthfeel as rougher, drier tannins can lead to the perception of a wine\u2019s viscosity.[1]<\/sup><\/a> These tannins coat the lubricating proteins in our saliva, forming little aggregates that make the saliva feel rough rather than liquidus. McGee (1987) summarizes this sensation best by stating, \u201cThis dry, constricting feeling, together with the smoothness and viscosity caused by the presence of alcohol and other extracted components, create the impression of the wine\u2019s body… In strong young red wines, the tannins can be palpable enough that \u2018chewy\u2019 seems a good description. In excess, they are drying and harsh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Breaking it down further, we can begin to dissect my aforementioned glass of Nebbiolo. \u201cPunchy\u201d indicates the wine\u2019s acidity levels, noting its youth, as the acid is strong enough to \u201cpunch\u201d the inside of the mouth. Fermentation in oak barrels would lead us to the wine\u2019s \u201cgrippy\u201d qualities, in that it is, quite literally, gripping to the taste receptors. As for a wine that’s chewy, we look towards its dynamic and astringent qualities, as in, \u201cLet me chew on this for a minute before I make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, it\u2019s a bit of a trust fall.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n

Asimov, Eric. “The Indescribable Texture of Wine.” The New York Times. January 10, 2006. https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/01\/10\/dining\/the-indescribable-texture-of-wine.html.<\/p>\n

Gawel, Richard, A. Oberholster, and I. Leigh Francis. “A \u2018Mouth-feel Wheel\u2019: Terminology for Communicating the Mouth-feel Characteristics of Red Wine.” Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research<\/em> 6, no. 3 (2000): 203-07. doi:10.1111\/j.1755-0238.2000.tb00180.x.<\/p>\n

“Glossary: Wine IQ: Wine Spectator.” WineSpectator.com. https:\/\/www.winespectator.com\/glossary\/index\/id\/GL_mouthfeel.<\/p>\n

McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking the Science and Lore of the Kitchen<\/em>. Allen & Unwin, 1987.<\/p>\n

“The Real Difference Between Flavor vs Taste.” Wine Folly. March 14, 2016. http:\/\/winefolly.com\/tips\/taste-vs-flavor-vs-aroma.<\/p>\n

Shepherd, Gordon M. Neuroenology How the Brain Creates the Taste of Wine<\/em>. Columbia University Press, 2017.<\/p>\n

Wang, Qian Janice, and Charles Spence. “A Smooth Wine? Haptic Influences on Wine Evaluation.” International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science<\/em> 14 (2018): 9-13. doi:10.1016\/j.ijgfs.2018.08.002.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/span><\/sup><\/a> Shepherd, Gordon. 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post, by Gastronomy student Amy Johnson, is part of our series from students in MET ML619, the Science of Food and Cooking. \u201cSo this one is a bit of a trust fall,\u201d a blonde waitress explains to me. I sit idly, my curiosity intrigued. \u201cIt\u2019s punchy, grippy, but definitely one of my favorites.\u201d She […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2776,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,10,15,27],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9515"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2776"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9515"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9520,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9515\/revisions\/9520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/gastronomyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}