Flavour vs Taste

You may think but aren’t they’re the same? Though they are similar they’re not interchangeable.

Once you learn the difference of them, their distinct experiences, you’ll become much better at cooking as well as more in tune with what you like and dislike in wine.

So how do we define them?

Taste refers to the sense inside our mouth and on our tongue

Aroma occurs inside our noses and specifically refers to our sense of smell

Flavour is when taste and aromas combine

Taste

Taste happens inside of our mouths, and has everything to do with how our tongue and mouth interacts with food and drinks. The tongue has two kings of receptors: one is for taste (aka our tastebuds) and mouthfeel which is senses all over our mouth and tongue.

Taste focuses mainly on sweet, salty, bitter and sour tastes. There are also two other disputed tastes called ‘umami’ and ‘metallic’, it’s arguable if these are true tastes or a combination of testures and tastes (flavours)

Mouthfeel focuses mainly on viscosity (body), tannins and the overall texture of the wine.

Aroma

Aromas, also referred to as bouquet, is actually the word to describe odours, tiny volatilized compounds that our nose’s receptors can identify. Since alcohol evaporates quickly it carris aromas easily. Perfumes are made from alcohol as its base for this exact reason!

Smells can often trigger memories and experiences, linking them to emotions. When we smell liquids, we can do it in two ways, through our nostrils or through the back of our throat (via our retronasal cavity). When we’re sniffing a glass of wine, this this done through the nostrils, yet when we taste a glass of wine its done through the throat and retronasal.

Flavour

Flavour is the overall impression of a wine or food. It’s the combination of aromas, taste and mouthfeel. It is how our brains synthesize aromas, taste and texture – it’s overall experience.