All my words and pictures about the art and shapes in wine may strike you as odd.
However there is some scientific grounding in the idea of the shape of molecules. They have a complementarity meaning they must fit another molecule in order to exert their effects. In the case of taste, sweet and savory share receptors, bitter has a separate receiving site, while salty and sour penetrate the cell ‘electrically.’
And however the cells on our tongue welcome these chemicals of taste, some magical electrochemical signals are sent to our brain with the information – yum, yuck, etc.
I propose that our words for taste may even have roots in our molecules. So here are our 5 chemical tastes. BTW, the old tongue map is wrong. Our tongue tastes all over.
SWEET table sugar SAVORY umami
SOUR citric acid
SALTY sodium chloride
BITTER caffeine
Link here for Great overview article just out in Discover. The only flaw I see is that they write umami is not understood in terms of nutrition. Actually, the taste of umami tells us that we are ingesting a nitrogen source, essential for life.