Taste is mostly genetic. But appreciating a fine bottle of wine can be learned. One expert, Gary K. Beauchamp, director of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, which studies smell and taste and how they affect human health, offers his view of what goes on when we sip.
味觉是否灵敏通常由先天决定。但是人们可以通过后天学习来品鉴出一瓶酒的好坏。加里?比彻姆(Gary K. Beauchamp)是费城莫内尔化学感官研究中心(Monell Chemical Senses Center)主任，专注于研究嗅觉、味觉以及它们对人类健康的影响，这位专家给出了自己对于品酒的见解。
That Tingly Feeling
轻微的刺痛
When we talk about flavor, says Dr. Beauchamp, three factors come into play. The first two are the most familiar: The tongue and palate sense the primary taste categories of sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. And smell receptors at the top of the nose capture molecules floating in the air. In fruit season, for instance, 'the odors and the tastes interact with different receptors and all converge in the brain, which tells you that this is a peach,' he says.
比彻姆博士说，谈到口味，就必须要提及三个要素。前两个要素我们非常熟悉：舌头和上颚感受几种最基本的口味──甜、咸、酸、苦和鲜味。而鼻腔上部的嗅觉受体捕捉空气中的分子。他说，比如到了盛产水果的时节，桃子的气味和口味与身体中不同的受体相接触，最终汇聚到大脑，告诉你这是一个桃子。
For wine, a third factor is also important -- an irritation in the mouth, the throat and the nose that some people like and others find unpleasant. 'We don't have a good term for it, but it's that sense of pain you feel when you taste something spicy or fermented -- that little stinging,' Dr. Beauchamp says.
而对于品酒来说，第三个要素也同样重要──一种对口、喉、鼻同时造成的刺激感，这种感受是否讨喜则见仁见智。比彻姆博士说，这种感觉就是当你尝到一些辛辣或发酵过的东西时的那种轻微的刺痛感，但我们还没找到一个合适的词语来形容它。
For example, 'If you were to give a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil to people in the U.S., many wouldn't like that burning sensation,' says Dr. Beauchamp, who has done studies on this particular condition. 'But if you give it to people from the Mediterranean, they will recognize the feeling as the sign of the very best olive oil.' Enjoying that subtle pain is learned, scientists believe, but Dr. Beauchamp says they don't yet understand how that happens.
比彻姆博士举例说道，如果你让一个美国人品尝一勺特级初榨橄榄油，多数人都不会喜欢它灼热的口感，他的实验也证实了这一情况。但地中海的居民就能从中品尝出极佳橄榄油的感受。科学家们相信，对于那种轻微刺痛感的享受是学习得来的，但比彻姆博士表示他们尚未弄清这背后的玄机。
Expert Palate
“专家级”味觉
One of Dr. Beauchamp's colleagues explains that wine flavors are made up of many chemical structures. They arise from materials in the grape, from enzymatic reactions with grape compounds, through alcoholic fermentation and even from the wooden barrels used in the aging process. In the glass, those scents and flavors react with the nose and tongue at different times during sipping, which may cause one person to taste a cherry bouquet and another a leather finish from the same vintage.
比彻姆博士的一位同事解释道，酒的口感由很多化学成份组成，包括葡萄自身的成份、葡萄化合物的?促反应以及酒精发酵的产物，甚至还包括存放过程中木桶里的成份。品尝一杯红酒，这些不同气味和口味会在不同的时间与鼻子和嘴发生反应，因而同一瓶佳酿既可能如樱桃般醇美，也可能像呛人的皮革一样难以下咽。
Professional wine tasters are trained to notice the different flavors that tannins, sugars, acids and various processes give to a particular wine, and to put words to them. But tasters' physiology is basically the same as everyone else's. 'It's not as though they were born with more receptors or grew more over time. They simply developed an ability to notice small differences,' says Dr. Beauchamp. 'With experience, some people can become more attuned to certain smells and tastes, which may lead them to like particular wines more, but their chemistry doesn't change; it's a cognitive effect.'
专业品酒师能够品尝出丹宁、糖分、酸以及生产工艺所赋予一瓶红酒的不同味道，并对这些味道做出评价。这些品酒师生下来感官并不比别人灵敏。比彻姆博士说，他们并非天生就具备更多的感觉受体或随着年龄的增长感觉受体越来越多。比彻姆博士说，他们只是训练出辨识酒中细微差别的能力，有了一定的饮酒阅历，人们就逐渐喜欢上某些气味、口味，对特定的酒产生偏好，但这当中的原理只有一个；这是认知效应的结果。
Bitter Evolution
“苦涩”的进化
Among the basic tastes, people seem to differ the most on bitter -- a big factor in appreciating fine wine. 'It's not exactly clear why there is so much more variation on bitter than sweet and salty. But we have evolved to detect bitter things differently, perhaps to protect us against danger in the environment,' he says.
在所有基本的口味中，人们似乎对“苦”的感受存在最大的差异，而这恰恰是品酒过程中的一个重要因素。比彻姆博士说，至今仍不清楚?什么相较于甜、咸的口感，人们对苦的感受差别巨大。然而是人类的进化让我们对苦产生不同的感受，因而这或许是?了更好地保护自身远离环境中的危险。
And because so many factors are at work in the preference for certain wines, it would be very difficult for one person to tell another what he should like.
因为如此多的因素共同决定了我们对于酒的偏好，所以品酒是一个因人而异的事情。
'Take your genetics plus your experience, and we are all living in our own sensory world,' Dr. Beauchamp says. For that reason, he has one simple recommendation: Enjoy what you enjoy, and don't worry about what the other guy is savoring.
比彻姆博士说，遗传加上阅历，造就了我们每一个人的感官世界。也正因如此，对于品酒，他的建议很简单：喝自己爱的酒，让别人说去吧。