These are questions that I am asked time and time again so why is that we sniff and spit when tasting wine? We spit as taste receptors are absent in our throats and sadly only spitting can keep our brains and livers intact. We sniff, we swirl, we slurp and spit to heighten our sense of smell. Misguidedly, many of us believe that it is our tongue that is the main taste instrument, in fact it is the nose. To a great extent what we perceive as taste is in truth our sense of smell.

But doesn’t our tongue have different areas that taste different things?

Yes, it is true, our tongue has areas that have a heightened sensitivity to the five basic tastes – sweetness, acidity, bitterness, saltiness, umami  or savouriness; however, surely you have noticed that when you have a heavy cold, blocked nose, you cease to not only smell, but also taste. The nose is the taster’s friend and picks up literally thousands of aromas. To put it in perspective, your nose has 10,000 taste receptors for every taste bud on your tongue and is responsible for roughly 80% of what you taste.

Is there anything that our tongues can do that our noses can’t?

Yes, absolutely, our tongue can help us determine texture, weight and body. To my mind our tongue is our more concious taste receptor, which is why we so often overlook the importance of the nose.

For example, tannin levels which originate from the skins and oak ageing, dry out the mouth and gums, but could never be picked up by the nose alone. The tongue lets us decipher tastes in a more elemental way, helps us determine more concretely the origins of of a wine or how it has been made. Just experiment and see for yourselves…