Know Your Palate (Part 2): Sweetness vs Ripeness, Acidity, Tannins & Sensitive Tasters Keith Wallace hosts an After Wine School episode focused on "Know Your Palate" (Part 2), shifting from smell to what happens on the palate. He clarifies the difference between aromas (smelled) and flavors and taste sensations (tasted/felt), then breaks down three core palate elements: sweetness, acidity, and bitterness/tannin.
The episode explains perceived sweetness from alcohol and oak-derived baking-spice flavors versus real sugar, with a home tasting exercise using off-dry Riesling, Chablis, and high-alcohol Zinfandel/Petite Syrah. It covers how acidity underpins fruit flavors, highlights tartaric acid as unique to wine and linked to aging and microbial stability, and offers an at-home comparison of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with unoaked Chardonnay (or alternatives like Marsanne/Roussanne or Albariño).
For bitterness, it explains wine’s condensed tannins, how skin/seed contact affects tannin extraction, and suggests tasting Pinot Noir/Gamay against high-tannin wines like Aglianico or Nebbiolo.
The hosts advise students not to rely on personal “algorithms” and to build tasting skills step-by-step. They also discuss genetic tasting sensitivity (formerly “super tasters”) and an at-home PROP strip test to gauge sensitivity, especially for tannin perception, and close by promoting their Level 2 program, online options, and the Wine School USA podcast/YouTube channel.
00:00 Welcome Back: Know Your Palate (Part 2) — Taste on the Tongue
00:48 Aromas vs Flavors: Stop Confusing Smell with Taste
02:15 Sweetness 101: Sugar vs Alcohol vs “Perceived” Sweetness
04:39 At-Home Sweetness Drill: Riesling vs Chablis vs Big Zinfandel
06:32 Acidity = Fruit Flavor: The Acids Behind What You Taste
08:21 Tartaric Acid & Acid Levels: Why Wine Tastes Like Wine
10:09 Acidity Practice: Sauvignon Blanc vs Unoaked Chardonnay (and Alternatives)
11:25 Bitterness & Tannins: What That Dry, Grippy Feeling Really Is
13:05 Tannin Tasting Exercise + Don’t Invent “Wine Hacks”
15:32 Sensitive Tasters: PROP Strips and the (Very) Memorable Scale
👉 Free wine class + resources: https://wineschool.us/hub
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