Research project
The primary tastes of sweet, salty, sour, bitter and savoury (umami) are well defined and understood to direct our food choices. Overt bitterness in wine is generally considered acceptable and it is important to identify and learn to control bitterants in wine. Savoury characters in wine, although commonly reported in tastings are virtually unstudied. Sweet taste, even at low level, can strongly drive consumer preferences of beverages. Although wine sweetness is often ascribed to residual sugar it does not explain the sensation often described by winemakers as 'fruit-sweetness', which appears in 'dry' red wines. Beyond these basic tastes, there are the mouth-feel sensations, such as astringency, fullness (body) and viscosity, which together elicit the more complex experience of wine texture.