There is good news for the Senior set if you love tasting wine. Your senses of smell and taste may decline in your later years, but you can reverse the trend if you keep them active. In other words, continue to enjoy fine wines, and you’ll be a discerning connoisseur of vintages until you are a centenarian.
Your body can detect five basic tastes and thousands of distinct scents. Your senses begin declining around the time wrinkles emerge, and hair turns grey. But have no fear! A study of perfumers found that people with 35 years of experience were more accurate and faster at discerning smells than their younger contemporaries.
The best news is that our brains are wired to make new connections, allowing seniors to retain their critical wine faculties as they age. One critic stopped judging wines at age 95, not because his palate wasn’t as sharp, but because he was very slow. Is that a problem for the senior amateur wine lover? Not if you enjoy the love of the journey!
Read HERE for an overview of the science behind your sense of smell and taste with age. Be sure not to withdraw from any of your wine clubs yet!