Food & Wine Pairing
The Four Primary Tastes
Humans perceive four primary taste sensations. These taste sensations are sweet, salty, sour (acidity) and bitter. Three of these tastes (sweet, sour, and bitter) are very prominent in wines. All four are common in the food we eat and should therefore be taken into account when matching a wine to a meal.
It is important to recognize these tastes as they will help you to identify the characteristics of both food and wine. A good understanding of the four primary tastes is also helpful when reading wine labels. Many times a wines true characteristics will be hidden in a slew of adjectives written by the wine label. For example, wines described as having flavors of coffee may have an element of bitterness to them or those with “citrus” flavors may be acidic.