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Ok, we couldn’t resist this number. Ninety is the percent of the world over the age of six who will own a smartphone by 2020, according to Sociallymined. Wine is of course purchased by phone, and WineSpeed is read by phone (although neither by anyone under 21 years old).

There are only four basic tastes humans can detect and experience in our food and wine: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.

Answer: False.

In addition to these four tastes, there’s at least one more that’s known—umami (oo-MA-mee), a word that translates to "deliciousness" in Japanese. Discovered in 1908 by Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda, umami is based on the presence of glutamates (aka glutamic acid), the most abundant type of amino acid in certain foods—and, thus, indicators of protein. In 2000, University of Miami researchers found receptors in our taste buds designed to receive the umami compounds. Umami is present in foods such as blue cheese, meat juices, mushrooms, and fermented soy products like soy sauce. Beyond sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami, there may be even more tastes scientists haven’t yet discovered.

Ice

The word ice is usually used along with the word wine, as in ice wine (or eiswein). But ice can be used alone, as in “Riesling Ice.” A wine that is described simply as “ice”… Continue reading

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