A good vintage: science suggests appreciation of wine grows with age

Changes in composition and production of saliva as people grow older appears to intensify perception of aromas

Just as a bottle of wine improves with age, so may our ability to pick out the subtleties of its scent. Changes in the composition of our saliva and how much of it we produce appears to intensify our perception of smokey and peppery aromas in red wine, new research suggests.

The findings could lead to the development of wines that are more tailored toward specific groups of consumers. We could diversify winemaking production to make more enjoyable wines based on consumers' physiologies," said Maria Angeles del Pozo Bayon, of the Spanish Research Council's Institute of Food Science and Research in Madrid, who led the research.