CHAPTER 4
Cognitive processes refer to those by which the brain manages, regulates, integrates, generates and expedites the constantly occurring electrochemical signals passing between neurons. These tasks are not at all sequential. In fact, there is such an intertwining of processes that from the outside it can seem like a tangle.
Sensory perception is a well-studied cognitive process, with a level of research similar to that of language, memory, attention, thought, and intelligence. While all such processes are indispensable in the act of wine tasting, it is beyond the scope of this volume to address them exhaustively. We will, however, examine some aspects such as, for example, the anatomy and functioning of the vocal apparatus. The different languages of wine will also be classified: the poetic, narrative, oenological, organoleptic and scientific. We also address the subject of cognitive bias, an issue of great interest given how frequently it occurs during wine tasting. This suggests that a distortion of perception has taken place which results in an error.
