Sweetness in wine - a different perspective

[David M. Bueker]

I am amazed at how sweet most wines are!

Many folks know that back in late 2010 I suffered a significant concussion. One of the side "benefits" was a complete loss of my sense of smell. It's now been a little over 3 months since the concussion, and progress has been agonizingly slow. Things are certainly better than they were when the whole world smelled and tasted like cardboard, and if I look at it from a month-to-month perspective there have been huge improvements. Day-to-day drives me nuts though. The doc says 6 months or more for full recovery, perhaps never.

There was a time in this saga that I thought I might end up giving up wine. I suppose that is still a possibility, but I am at least now able to enjoy a glass or two, and things with a strong mechanism for getting aroma to me (e.g. Champagne with its explosive bubbles) are better than still beverages. My blind tasting skills are exactly zero for now, and I don't have hopes they will ever be what they once were.

But back to the title of this thread. I am now very sensitive to the basic tastes, and I am amazed at how sweet so many non-sweet wines are. I'm not talking about German Riesling, which I expect to be sweet, and I don't expect people to have the same reaction that I do, but as an example, the 2004 Chevillon I reported on the other day was incredibly sweet in its fruit component. A Dashe Zin that I tried last night was nearly overpowering in its sweetness. Go back a few weeks, and I had an '83 Beaucastel that shocked me with the sweetness of the fruit. I don't recommend a concussion to anyone, but I sure am learning a lot about sweetness (and not from residual sugar- at least not in the Chevillon or Beaucastel, we can debate the Dashe) in wine!

David, Hi...

It might be interesting for you to do a series of blind mini-experiments, tasting both wines and other beverages that are known to have residual sugar or wines that are completely dry but show generous and forward fruits. There is a chance that your brain is confusing fruitiness with sweetness. If that is the case you will probably be able to train your brain to recognize between the two.

Best
Rogov

[David M. Bueker]

There is a chance that your brain is confusing fruitiness with sweetness. If that is the case you will probably be able to train your brain to recognize between the two.

I don't doubt it, and it's one of ther easons I continue to drink wines that may still seem "odd" to me. I am hoping that I can essentially re-train my sense of smell. We'll see.

I’m not an expert on the medical field, but I’m optimistic that you’ll get your sense of smell back and I won’t doubt it if when fully recovered you’ll notice how much sharper and more accurate it will be in its ability to pick up and distinguish.

Fwiw, due to a severe respiratory infection that I suffered through when I traveled to Asia several years back, I lost my sense of smell and went through a battery of tests on a quarterly basis with a specialist to track my progress. As I put a positive spin to that year-and-a-half of recovery period, I regard it as a period of “cleansing out” the bad sensory pre-conceptions and “toxins” that may have previously impaired my smelling prowess.

Agree that it was a frustrating experience, but since then, imo, my sense of smell has never been better.

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks for the hopeful story. The medical infoprmation that is available on line is not so encouraging for my specific condition, but the progress I have made over the last three months, while frustrating, is notable.

David, Hi..

Several years ago I wrote a piece about people who are permanently anosal and who train themselves to adapt their palates to "simulate" the sense of smell via the taste buds. Hopefully your own condition will not be permanent but even if so, the brain is a remarkably adapatable organ and with little more than self-training, adaptations can be made.

On the more negative side, I did have one colleague (in Italy) who lost her senses of both taste and smell and committed suicide because of that. Do not. I repeat, do not, go that route.

Best
Rogov

So sorry to hear about this, David, I had no idea! Lighting some neurological candles.

David, sorry to hear of the injury. I work in a State run, comprehensive rehabilitation center where we have a lot of folks with brain injuries, TBI's. I'll check with some of the experts next week and see what I can find out re to your concussion and loss of smell and taste issues.

Drew

I shudder to think what my life would be like without a sense of smell (or taste). I'd imagine I'd at least lose some weight...

Going back to the sweetness issue: I wonder if the wines you mention (e.g. the Chevillon) are analytically dry (have little or no RS) but exhibit sweetness because other components (esters, aldehydes, alcohols...) interact with receptors to give the impression of sweetness? It is hard to imagine a wine like a red Burgundy made by traditional methods having much RS left - this would create an unstable wine which the producer would be working to avoid.

Best wishes on your recovery!

[David M. Bueker]

Going back to the sweetness issue: I wonder if the wines you mention (e.g. the Chevillon) are analytically dry (have little or no RS) but exhibit sweetness because other components (esters, aldehydes, alcohols...) interact with receptors to give the impression of sweetness? It is hard to imagine a wine like a red Burgundy made by traditional methods having much RS left - this would create an unstable wine which the producer would be working to avoid.

That's probably what is going on. I expect that it is the alcohol that seems sweet.

David, sorry to hear re your troubles. I had noticed a couple of passing references, but didn't realize how severe it was. Best wishes on a full recovery, and great job using your (temporary) disability to learn and pay attention to the basics.

David, allow me to add my own wishes for a full recovery.

When I stopped a smoking a couple of year ago, I suddenly developed a super sense of smell. Which isn't a terribly pleasant gift in the Middle East, I'm sorry to say. It took a long time until wines started to feel balanced again, as I had to re-calibrate my sense of smell.

Hi David,
BTW Happy Birthday and hope you recover fully from your concussion. You might find the following link interesting;

http://www.nrn.com/article/wine-produce ... -dry-wines

Salute

R.S., alcohol, and "fruit forwardness" can all come across as sweet. That's interesting in that the general perception of wine ppl is R.S. in your table wine is bad. But why is other perceived sweetness okay? Just wondering ...

Bob H wrote;
That's interesting in that the general perception of wine ppl is R.S. in your table wine is bad.

I guess its like perceiving dissolved CO2 in still wines, it’s just not suppose to be there.
But than again could a little RS actually contribute to “fruit-forwardness”?

Salute

David, I hope very much you will recover your sense of smell.
Ever since my Bells Palsy episode 3 months ago, I have been having big mega problems with my right eye. Sight, smell, hearing is so important to us is it not. we will both recover slowly eh.

I think alcohol, non-reducable sugars, glycerol, etc play a bigger role than most of us give credit for.

Wishing you full recovery David, and more interesting "realisations" until then.

David,

Was it not Jenise who also suffered from anosmia?

Just to encourage you, I had this problem a few years ago, but it corrected itself after about 3 months.

Bon courage,
Alex

David, loss of sense of smell and taste is a wine-lover's nightmare just as loss of hearing is for a musician, etc. I wish you a speedy recovery and no sequels.

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles, David. I hope you will recover fully.

Peter

Best wishes on your recovery! You are working hard on it and that effort will be rewarded!

David -

I hope that you are able to fully recover from your concussion soon. Keep hanging in!

Best wishes for a complete recovery, David.