Savagnin (sa-va-YEN)

Ancient variety indigenous to the area covering northeast France and southwest Germany. One of the ancestral “founder varieties” that gave rise to scores of others throughout Europe including verdelho, gruner veltliner, sauvignon blanc, and chenic blanc. Also known as traminer in Germany and in Italy’s Trentino Alto Adige for a clone known as traminer aromatico. Savagnin has a genetic relationship with pinot noir—either as its progeny or its parent but geneticists are not sure which.

How fast are your tastebuds?

A. 13-15 milliseconds

B. 1-2 centiseconds

C. 1.5-4.0 millseconds

D. 30-35 milliseconds

The human body can taste faster than it can see, touch, or hear. According to Dr. Hildegarde Heymann, Professor and Enologist in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California at Davis, taste perception is swift because the tongue and mouth (assisted by the nose) are the body’s primary defenses against poison. Here’s how fast perception occurs after initial stimulation, as measured in thousandths of a second, for our four main senses:

Taste: 1.5 – 4.0 milliseconds
Touch: 2.4 – 8.9 milliseconds
Vision: 13 – 45 milliseconds
Hearing: 13 – 22 milliseconds

39k

Amount (in US$) that the original owners of the French Laundry—Sally and Don Schmitt—paid for it in 1974. (The building was in fact once a laundry). Four years later, Sally (a chef) opened the French… Continue reading

Get WineSpeed