how many taste buds do you have?

this is a very cool new thing for me to have discovered, so i’m sharing it with you.

most of us never really give a thought to the possible relationship between our taste buds and what we like. some of us like spicy food while others can’t stand anything even remotely too salty or sweet. could this have anything to do with our taste buds, those little microscopic bumps on our tongue?

recently i was having a conversation with a wine consultant and for the first time ever i heard what seemed bizarre yet logical. yes, we are all born differently, and apparently with a relatively different amount of taste buds. what we like, and how we like it, is completely related to the amount of little bumps on our tongue. how weird does that sound?

because i have always been inclined to rich and heavy wines, and always loved super spicy food, it made me wonder if i was an under-taster or not. someone with a low count of taste buds is referred to as a non-taster or under-taster, while someone with a high count is referred to as a super-taster. essentially the more taste buds you have, the more sensitive you are to flavours.

so how do you know how many taste buds you have? here is a simple test you can do to find out, which was first explained by this wine consultant i met, and reconfirmed on the doctor oz show with guest gary vaynerchuk. (if you don’t know gary, you must check his wine tv website)

here is what you will need to count your taste buds :

• some blue food colouring

• cotton buds (q-tips)

• reinforcement rings for hole-punched paper, or a thick hole-punched piece of paper

• a magnifier of some sort (glass or mirror)

then follow these few simple steps :

• using the q-tip, swab some food colouring over the tip of your tongue

• place a reinforcement ring on your tongue

• lastly count inside the hole area of the ring how many pink dots there are (these are your taste buds which do not turn blue). the magnifier will help for this part.

the result :

an under-taster will have fewer than 10 taste buds, an average taster about 20, and a super-taster will have over 30. here are some images (not very appealing) to see a visual of what i’m talking about: taste bud test. i also found the video clip of gary with doctor oz here.

and yes... it does feel a bit weird to put blue colouring on your tongue! but it is fun to understand our tasting behaviour, is it not? it sure confirmed a lot of things for me as i have less than 10! so spicy food and heavy wines, come to mama! :)

mandolin

zinfandel

lodi, california

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zinfandels have remained off my radar to this day because i believed they were light wines, so i completely dismissed them. recently i was given a totally new perspective on this grape variety, and serendipitously in the following weeks a friend opened her last bottle of her favourite zinfandel. what a treat that was! rich, big and powerful, with berry flavours and a spicy overtone. so delicious. sadly it does appear that mandolin no longer produces the zinfandel. so if you get your hands on one, buy it! especially the 2005.

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vintage 2005 • alcohol 14.5%

$ unknown

red truck

red blend

sonoma valley, california

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i first noticed this bottle because of its label. big surprise! (says the designer) then i bought a bottle when i was in arizona last year because it was only $10 and someone said it was really good. i totally agree! it is a very much enjoyable, easygoing wine. medium bodied, made with syrah, petite sirah and cabernet franc, it delivers rich berry flavours and finishes with a smooth velvety mouthfeel. as it says on its label "turn off your engine, kick back and relax.” visit redtruckwine.com for the whole truck family.

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vintage 2006  •  alcohol 13.5%

$15

road 13

honest john’s white blend

vqa : okanagan valley

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only in recent years have i acquired a love for white wines. before that i would never of my own choice have picked white over red. nowadays i often buy an inexpensive bottle and make kir, the french drink where you mix white wine with a drop of creme de cassis.

my very first sip of road 13 was a complete wow! as described on the label the wine is made with a lovely blend of ehrenfelser, sauvignon blanc and a hint of viognier, creating a mouthful of white peaches with a flinty finish. definitely a great wine!

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vintage 2007 • alcohol 13.1 %

$17

friends enjoying red bubbles!

esther and lonnie in sydney, australia, january 2007.

if you’ve red the previous post... that’s the photo that came with the email. and yes, i wish i’d been there! the sparkling shiraz they are drinking is the black chook (reviewed on wine tv).

let’s talk about red bubbles!

banrock station : sparkling shiraz

south eastern australia

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you say “sparkling what?” shiraz, as in ‘red wine’ shiraz?

yes indeed. and i had the very same reaction when i first heard of it in january ’07.

my friend lonnie had been travelling to australia during her teaching ‘winter’ break (or whatever they call it in china) and i connected her with my friend esther (more like my big sister, really) who has been living in sydney for many years now. on australia day i received an email from lonnie, with some pictures, and in her email she was telling me that she had had a wonderful picnic with esther for the celebration, sipping sparkling shiraz, and that they were thinking of me. and my reaction was exactly that, sparkling shiraz?

apparently it’s something pretty big in australia, and given their climate, i’m not particularly surprised that the australians created a way of enjoying red wine in a refreshing manner. so yes, like any sparkling wine, it should be served chilled. although i haven’t done extensive research on the subject, the origin of sparkling red wine is probably european. i do believe the italians also drink it.

so what does it taste like? well, it doesn’t taste much like red wine. just like a sparkling white wine differs tremendously from a regular white wine, so does the red sparkling from its counterpart. but believe me, it’s good. you might say you don’t like sparkling wine, and i would still recommend you try it. it is definitely different, but most people i’ve now introduced to it have been very pleasantly surprised.

as for pairing it with food, you got me there. i have absolutely no idea. i’ve only enjoyed it on its own, and i cannot even imagine what it would be good with. someone said to me recently that most sparkling wines are designed to be enjoyed on their own, so maybe that’s simply the answer. if you have some thoughts on this, please share them!

now as for finding it in liquor stores, it can be a bit tricky. here in british columbia, we can find it quite easily. the banrock station seems to be the most popular, and it sells for $16. there is also a seaview that is generally readily available at $15 (prices vary in private liquor stores). other australian brands are also listed on the bcls website, but i’ve never personally seen them in stores. i did however find an italian sparkling red called lambrusco, which sells for only $11, with a lower alcohol content. without a doubt it is not as nice as the two i just mentioned, but it is very drinkable indeed!

for all other provinces, i cannot tell you what is available, if any. i do know for a fact that the province of québec did not carry any sparkling red wines at all as of september ’08. (i had an employee of the saq search the computer database for me, and nada, niente, nothing). as for the usa, i’m not sure how the import business of liquors works, but i’m sure you can find some, somewhere!

so to you all, good luck hunting a bottle wherever you are, and enjoy!

a perfect companion for the summer...

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banrock station alcohol content 14%

$15

wild horse canyon

shiraz

west coast appellation

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this is a very lush and robust red wine. i have to say that my first reaction was quite surprising: i didn’t expect it to taste this good for its price. it opens with aromas of black current, berries and ground pepper, with flavours of ripe plum and cherries, and mingled with a hint of spice and oak on the finish. notes from the label

west coast appellation includes the best vines from british columbia, washington state and california.

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vintage 2007  •  alcohol 13.5%

$13

chat-en-oeuf

grenache + sirah

côtes du ventoux, france

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i had heard about this châteauneuf-wannabe, but only recently did it come on my radar when a friend of mine mentioned how fun the concept and how cute the label was; and i agree. unfortunately, i had also heard that it wasn’t very good. well that depends. if you compare it to a $50-100 bottle of real châteauneuf-du-pape, certainly it won’t rate very well. however, now that i have tried it (many times), i will say this: it is really good. compared to the stump jump for example, it is excellent!

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vintage 2006 • alcohol 14%

$14

the stump jump

red blend

australia

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this wine definitely has what it takes to be a contender for my list of favourites: grenache, shiraz and mourvèdre, but unfortunately it doesn’t quite make it. for sure it is a good wine, but i was expecting something a bit more robust for its vine content. could be its age, could be the vintage, either or, i might try it again; different food at a different time, and my experience might be completely altered.

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vintage 2006  •  alcohol 14.5%

$16

iphone : wine applications review

skip directly to the review below if you wish.

i recently mentioned on my design blog that i had a great wine application on my iphone, and someone asked me which one it was. so i thought i would share about it.

there are many wine applications in the app store, and not all of them have the same functions. some are designed to keep track of your wine cellar inventory, others include a wine review database to help you choose which wine to purchase, and some are simply designed for you to keep track of what you like and what people might recommend you try. now to make things a bit more complicated, there are some applications that do a bit of one and a lot of the other.

frankly, if you are really interested in finding the perfect application for you, i recommend you do a search for "wine" in the app store, and read the complete developer’s description of each of the potential application. most importantly, read all the reviews!

an important note about the reviews:

when you click on "read all reviews" you will find that they are by default listed by "most helpful" – i recommend you change that to "most recent" and here is why. the app store was opened in august 2008 and all of the applications at that point were new. as is normal in all software development, glitches are very common and most of these new apps were in need of fixes. over the last six months many developers have greatly improved their applications, often based on their customers’ reviews and reports, but the customers have not necessarily updated their original reviews. because most people do not put a date or the app’s version number in their review, it is important to look at the most recent reviews! this issue is also a huge deterrent in relying solely on the average star rating for choosing an app. / please note that version 8.1 of itunes has now a date and version stamp on all reviews. (released march ’09)

in any case, since i spent so many hours in the virtual app store (something to do when having insomnia), i thought i’d help you a little in demystifying those applications.

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wine notes / journals

those are mostly designed for you to keep track of your likes and dislikes, recommendations, and so on. the biggest differences are the user interface and the amount of data you can enter.

wine pad 2 $3 | 5 reviews : 4-stars

that is the one i own, and is the best in its category in my opinion. there is a field to enter all the information about wine you can think of, all of which are customizable, plus there is a field at the bottom for personal notes as well as one thing other apps don’t seem to have which is being able to enter blends. the only thing i see missing is the point average rating (although you could easily fit it somewhere).

tasting notes lite free | no reviews

this app is from the same developer as wine pad, and was just released in february. it also has a beautiful interface and seems to have all the same functions, including point ratings. it is the free version of tasting notes which is for all alcohols, but this one seems to include only wines. please note that free applications are not ads-free... and do not always have the same functions as paid ones. (i do not own it, hence the use of "seems")

tasting notes $5 | 3 reviews : 4.5-stars

this is the full paid version of tasting notes lite, and is designed to rate all alcohol beverages.

wine cellar $5 | 1 review : 4-star

on top of basic wine notes, this app seems to have an added function to keep track of your cellar. the interface is not as nice as wine pad, and one complaint in the review is that blends are not customizable. i think this app looks fairly decent but is not worth its two extra bucks.

winelist $1 | 1 review : 3-star

this app seems to be very incomplete as far as the data that can be entered – certainly there is very little information in the app’s description. the one reviewer complains about no point rating, no blend info, no regions of origin... so you get the picture – or lack of.

wine journal $4 | no reviews

this application seems to be fairly complete and includes both tasting notes and a wine cellar inventory. however the user interface looks very basic – but that’s only a small issue for us "designer" snobs. (wink)

wine log $3 | 5 reviews : 2.5-star

this one looks to be fairly good, but for the same dollar value it doesn’t have as many information fields as wine pad, and the user interface is not as pleasant.

wine snob $2 | 12 reviews : 2-star

this is a great example of what i mentioned in my note about reviews. this application obviously had many issues in its infancy because it had terrible reviews. however the latest ones are extremely good. on the plus side this app also provides a pairing database. on the down side, it seems the personal data entries are limited compared to the first apps i listed above.

wine inventories / cellars

these applications would be best for keeping track of the wine you own – if you’re so lucky to have a cellar large enough to lose track of what’s in it!

merlot wine cellar assistant $3 | 2 reviews : 2.5-star

i think its name says it all. this app is designed to track what you have in stock, with vintage and basic rating info. i think it might also allow you to enter specific stock quantities. however the reviews are not very good and would basically keep me away from buying this app as it still needs improvements.

drync wine $4 | 7 reviews : 2.5-star

this application has a very cute interface... but the reviews indicate that it lacks functionality. it has a huge database of wines which is designed to help you make purchase decisions. it also has a cellar inventory... what you’ve tried... and a wish list. potentially a great app but still in the improvement stage.

cor.kz wine info $5 | no reviews

like the one above, this app has a huge database from which you can get help in your purchase decision, and it also has a cellar inventory and a wish list. plus the app also offers a wine terminology dictionary. it looks like a pretty heavy app, and if there’s one thing missing, it might be a personal notes section. this app also has a twitter integration – whatever that means.

wine-jot $2 (on sale from $5) | no reviews

this is truly an application for you to keep track of what you own. there is some space for you to make personal notes on the wine you’ve tried, but it’s not the primary function this app was designed for. there are also some basic rating available – did i say it was basic?

wine enthusiast guide $5 | 20 reviews : 2.5-star

okay, this is a guide and probably should be in its own category. for one, let’s first acknowledge that it’s been designed by the wine enthusiast magazine. as a guide it looks to be a great source of information, and the reason i put it here is that from their database you can select wines for your wish list. i suppose this could be of some help for those with the big cellars! i must however point out that the reviews are very mixed.

wine vintages

these apps are designed specifically to track the good years from the bad ones. i suppose if you have the room for all these bottles, you might want to keep worthy ones. now if that is the case, i don’t know that you can’t get this info integrated in one of the cellar apps from above.

wine vintages free | no reviews

this is a very, very basic application which only tracks good vs bad vintages with a five-point rating system. the interface is not too bad. the developer’s info is all in spanish... and i only speak french, english and italian. sorry. – i believe the difference between this application and the one below, is that this one is designed for you to do the rating, as the one below is from a database. (again, i can’t read spanish)

wine vintage card $2 | 2 reviews : 2-star

this is basically a database of vintage recommendations. obviously not all wines are included and the reviewers are both disappointed. not very enrolling. plus the interface is quite childish.

wine pairing

completely self-explanatory, these apps are designed with one thing in mind: for the marriage of wine and food. if you are at the level of appreciation for a perfect pairing, one of these apps might definitely be of value to you.

wine & dine $4 | 9 reviews : 3.5-star

this application has raving reviews from 7 of its 9 reviewers. i am not a big 'pairing' person as my knowledge of wine is fairly limited, but if i were to buy an app specifically for this purpose, this would be the one. the interface is also nice.

entaste food & wine pairing $2 | 1 review : 3-star

this application has been newly released, but it looks pretty good. the interface is simple and clean and looks very easy to navigate. based on its first review, the main downfall from the one above seems to be a smaller database. but since the app is so young, give it some time for possible great updates.

the everything app

i thought this last application deserved its own category, and in a short moment you will know why. it’s also self-explanatory.

velvet vine wine companion $6 (on sale from $10) | no reviews yet

this is a recently released application, and it looks like a pretty awesome one. it has a section for your wine cellar inventory in which you can make notes for each entry, it has a wish list, a database with professional reviews and notes, a wine journal to capture special bottles in special moments, a terminology dictionary, and a world community with whom you can share information. all that and probably much more, but you get the picture – and this time it’s a very colorful one! of course, if you don’t need all that jazz, pick an application that will serve your needs best. in other words, not having used this application, i cannot say that personal notes will be as thorough as one of the journal apps for example. so go with your guts!

for more iphone apps reviews, check ifones.com

guylaine rondeau © 2009

if you share this information, please make sure it is properly credited. thank you.

primula rosso

nero d’avola

sicily, italy

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recommended by my friend karen who is always on the look-out for great wines at low prices. when i found it there was a little hand-written note beside it that said "great wine, great value" – or something like it. then i knew for sure my friend wasn’t lying! (not that she ever does) – but at this price you can try it for yourself!

nero d’avola is sicily’s premier red wine grape. this wine’s full body displays vibrant black cherry fruit and is good with tomato-based pasta or italian cold cuts.

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vintage 2006  •  alcohol 13.5%

$10

bravura

red blend

chile

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this was a gift from a friend whom i invited to the international wine festival a couple of years ago. as a thank you he bought me several bottles of the wines i loved best – bless his heart – and this is one of them. today i created a special occasion to enjoy it: rich, fruity, with a subtle hint of wood and smoke. delicious!

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not available in regular liquor stores

check grandwinecellar.com for special orders

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vintage 2001  •  alcohol 14.3%

$90 in canada  •  $60 in the usa

liberty school

cabernet sauvignon
california

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this is a great full bodied wine my friend cheryl brought over on xmas eve when we were all snowed in! she gets it in the states for much less but it is widely available in british columbia.

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vintage 2006  •  alcohol 13%

$24