Article: Taste bud tales.(wine tasting abilities of women)(related article: Wine Consumption Grows in China)

True or false: On the whole, women have better palates than men.

Chances are you answered true. Both in the wine industry and the general population, most people share a vague consensus--maybe a hunch--that women have keener tasting and sniffing abilities. But what exactly gives them the edge? Is it better raw sensory equipment, or better language skills, more capacity to give that elusive aroma a name? Is the female advantage an evolutionary legacy from eons of handling the kitchen chores or an artifact of short-term socialization, in which little girls sharpen their senses through doll clothes and tea parties while little boys sharpen sticks?

If this ...

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