Broughton Quarterly - Fall 2008 - (Page 16) wine & cuisine Cork Jester TRIAl BY TASTE Harvest season is here, and tasting rooms are packed with palates. But as wine writer Jennifer rosen explains, not all tasters are created equal. C by Jennifer rosen Winner of a James beard Award for wine writing, Jennifer rosen is the author of “Waiter, There’s a Horse in My Wine” and “The Cork Jester’s Guide to Wine,” both winners of The Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Wine Literature. read her columns and sign up for her weekly newsletter at CorkJester.com. an you separate oak tannins from seed tannins in a single sip? Know whether that’s tartaric or citric acid prickling your tongue? Find some wines undrinkably bitter or sharp, while those around you drink on unaware? Well, I hope you look good in tights, because you may be a super-taster. If you can’t do those things, don’t toss the ThighMaster yet. You might still have super powers, but it takes training to unleash them. In experiments dating to the 1930s, scientists defined three categories of taste perception. 50 percent of the population are tasters. They perceive flavors in a normal way. 25 percent are non-tasters and miss out on a lot, while the other 25 percent are super-tasters. Prepare to accept your lot. How well you taste is determined genetically. Researchers can classify you using a chemical called PROP (6-N-propylthiouracil). Nontasters can’t distinguish it from water. Tasters perceive it as bitter, while super-tasters find it so revolting they gag, retch, and usually quit the study. You’d think super-tasting would make food and drink a garden of delights. Surely it describes the chefs and gourmands of the world. Actually, the talent is not all pleasant. Super-tasters find sweets twice as sweet and bitter foods twice as bitter. To them, fat is a tactile sensation and feels and tastes creamier. Bubbles in fizzy drinks are pricklier. Peppers and other hot foods seem pointlessly painful, like a slap in the face with every bite. What about the implications for wine tasting? You’d think a super-taster would have the advantage as a connoisseur. Not necessarily. Supers find alcohol, tannins, and acids more irritating than tasters and nons do. If they learn to get past the bitterness, though, they can develop very sophisticated palates. How do you stack up? Here’s a simple home test. (“Simple” is used here as a writer’s convention. This actually makes a huge mess.) You know those gummy notebook-paper hole-enforcers? Stick one to the front of your tongue. Using a Q-tip, swab blue food coloring over hole where your tongue is exposed. The blue will sink down, leaving tiny red circles exposed. These are fungiform papillae, which contain your taste buds. Count the little guys under a magnifying glass. 40 or more means you’re a super-taster. 20 to 40, you’re a taster, and under 20 you’re a non-taster. If you turn out to be a super-taster, what do you do, other than embroider an S on your shirt? Try not to reject too many vegetables. Salt helps counteract bitterness (which explains why chocolate, inherently bitter, tastes great over salty pretzels). Stop feeling weird about hating food that other people love. If your kid refuses to eat broccoli or spinach, don’t push it; could be he’s a super and they taste terrible to him. Look for equally nutritious substitutes he can stand. As for wine, non-tasters need not despair; most wine appreciation comes through the nose anyway. And now you know: bad taste is a scientific condition, with no clinical correlation to wearing plaid golf pants. Q WINE TASTING IN BROuGHTON TERRITORY The Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Association publishes a guide to the local wine country, complete with a full listing of tasting rooms. log onto SBCountyWines.com and go to the Maps section or call 805.688.0881 and ask them to send you a copy. The San Luis Obispo Vintners’ Association has the Central Coast covered. There’s a PDF version of their wine trail map at SLoWine.com (or call 805.541.5868). TOP PROPERTY With several fine hotels within range of the Santa Barbara and Central Coast wine regions, you’d think this would be a tough pick. Not when one of the properties has a name like Wine Valley Inn. Centrally located on an acre of lush gardens in Solvang, the Inn is a fantasy of cottages, chateau suites, and deluxe guest rooms. Guided wine tours (designated driver) are available through the property. Wine Valley inn, 1564 Copenhagen Dr., Solvang. 800.824.6444, WineValleyinn.com A16 broughton Quarterly FALL 2008 http://www.CorkJester.com http://www.SBCountyWines.com http://www.SLOWine.com http://www.WineValleyInn.com
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