The sense of taste (also gustatory from the Latin gustare = to savour, to taste) is used to control the food we eat. Like smell, it is one of the chemical senses. In a broader sense, the sense of taste is a complex interplay of the gustatory (tasting) sense of taste and the olfactory (smelling) sense of smell. This is supplemented by tactile or trigeminal tactile, pain and temperature information from the oral cavity. The latter includes the sensations of pungent (hot) and astringent (effect of tannin-rich red wines, not to be confused with bitter). In a narrower sense, however, taste consists of relatively few flavours that are absorbed via the tongue and partly also via the pharyngeal mucosa.
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For my many years of work as an editor with a wine and culinary focus, I always like to inform myself about special questions at Wine lexicon. Spontaneous reading and following links often leads to exciting discoveries in the wide world of wine.
Dr. Christa Hanten
Fachjournalistin, Lektorin und Verkosterin, Wien