Why does the taste of wine change over time?
This is likely to be familiar to many a wine connoisseur: Quite often you can be surprised that wines which still tasted good a few years ago, now longer suit our palate at all today. But why does our taste of wine actually change over the years?
The key points
- The taste of wine is complex: it is processed in the brain, not just by the palate and nose.
- Influences on taste: emotions and cultural background influence how we perceive wine.
- Presentation counts: the way in which wine is presented influences our opinion of it.
The taste of wine – list of contents
Which factors determine our taste?
Our brain evaluates whether a taste is positive or negative.
The key to this is that we do not “taste” with our palate or nose at all - but instead we use a specific area of the cerebral cortex.
Our tongue and nose simply act as “antennas”. They pick up the signals and transmit them to the centre responsible for smell and taste in our brain to be processed. It is here that our brain first analyses the stimuli, perceives these as a specific taste and assesses them as positive or negative.
How do our experiences influence our taste of wine?
The taste of wine can change over time.
Our taste of wine is certainly not due to physiology, but instead is determined by cognitive processing in the brain. And this itself is very much subject to changing influences.
Experiences in particular, but also expectations and cultural influences, may contribute significantly to whether a wine tastes “good” or “bad” to us. Even emotional conditioning can have a major influence on our taste of wine.
For example, a fruity Italian Prosecco from a stylishly designed bottle is certain to taste good to many wine lovers. The same product served up from an ugly litre bottle and described as a Moldovan sparkling wine on the label would probably have much less appeal to many.
The author
Frank Kämmer
I have worked for many years in high-end restaurants and in this time became one of the top sommeliers in Europe. In 1996, I achieved the title of Master Sommelier, the highest international qualification in my profession. Today, I work primarily as a consultant in the international wine and gastronomy sector. I have also published numerous books on wines and spirits and was the first German to be accepted into the British Circle of Wine Writers.
