Shaping Tastes

Do you ever wonder where our words for tastes come from? I was always interested in roots of words, strange interest, for sure. And then I started photographing tastes and a whole world opened up, to me, maybe to you, too.

Of course it all started with that first wine – a Sterling merlot (the photograph here) – when the winemaker said, ‘”It looked like it tasted.” I had absolutely no words for my wine experience so thought – a picture may tell the story better. At least, I began seeing the wine images as symbols for round or aggressive.

Then when I photographed the purified chemicals related to our five tastes, I was shocked how their microscopic images mirrored words we use for their tastes – sweet and sour, savory and salty, bitter – all revealed distinct expressions.

SWEET - Table Sugar                                        SAVORY-UMAMI – MSG                                    SOUR - Rice Vinegar

In the wisdom of nature, these tastes tell us about the benefits provided by the molecule -

• Sweet, for the most part, tells us something is an energy source and ready to eat.
• Sour, tells us that the fruit is not ripe yet or that the beverage has spoiled.
• Savory tells us this is a nitrogen source, something our cells need  to survive.

While supplies last get your copy of Wine’s Hidden Beauty to discover more about the art of taste and wine.

There is also available a custom metallic photographic print of the above merlot – 20 x 30 mounted and ready to hang.  To find out pricing, contact me sondra(at)sondrabarrettdotcom.