Author: deborahparkerwong

Flavor-tripping with the miracle fruit

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As a species, we’ve been eating and drinking to intentionally alter our states of perception ever since. For generations, the indigenous peoples of the Congo, Nigeria, and Ghana have used the fruit (and leaves) of Synsepalum dulcificum, a shrub indigenous to West
and Central Africa, in ethnomedicine. The taste-altering properties of this flavorless, bright-red berry—dubbed “the miracle fruit,” it’s about the size of a coffee bean—make for a fascinating sensory experience.

Learning to Perceive

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While perceptual learning plays an important role in evaluating wine, there’s another phenomenon related to perception that arises from the wine itself: perceptual interaction. When our olfactory system
is confronted with complex aromas, we often perceive them as a single aroma due to odor blending in a process known as
configural perception (our perception of the smell of coffee as a single aroma is just one of many examples).

Alvarinho’s Authentic Terroir

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Alvarinho produced in its native terroir is incomparable to expressions of the variety grown elsewhere. But it may ultimately prove to be on a trajectory similar to that of Pinot Gris, which is renowned for producing light, delicately floral wines in Italy’s Collio region and wines of great mineral intensity and fruit purity in Alsace. Time will tell.

Sustainability: A Shared Message Delivered by a Chorus of Voices

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Bringing together like-minded stakeholders for its second global conference addressing sustainability, Sustainable Wine UK will host the Future of Wine Americas Conference, 1 – 3 June. This no-cost, online conference will connect peers for information sharing, debate and best practices aimed at tackling pressing topics such as water conservation, the benefits of organic versus low-intervention wine, sustainable management of pest and disease outbreaks, and the role of social fairness in the green movement.