Wouldn't it be nice to sip on a glass of wine and wind up smarter?

OK, the literal act of swallowing liquids may not raise your IQ. However, when you hang out with wine expert Shaun Wright, you'll pick up some surprising info about all varietals.

Wright, of Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits, joined us for a sneak peek of the upcoming "Science of Wine" event at the Orlando Science Center. It's an annual event and primary fundraiser for OSC. It allows grown-ups to sip and nosh while picking up fun facts about their favorite vinos.

We visited Kona Grill, one of 20 participating restaurants, and used their dishes to better understand just what happens inside of our mouths when food and wine collide.

Here are four things we learned:

1. Tannin likes to grab onto protein.

"Tannin will enter your mouth with the wine," Wright told us. "It would prefer to have a bit of steak or a piece of bacon or a hamburger, but it will settle for your tongue, teeth and gums. In the absense of any fat or protein, it will latch onto your tongue and it will actually precipitate in your saliva and remove moisture from your mouth."

2. Take a good whiff, and the "notes" in a glass of sherry shoud smell like this:

"It smells a little bit like briny olive," he said, sticking his nose deep inside a wine glass. "For me, there's a lot of baked bread and sourdough... [and] bitter almonds."

3. Who knew that yeast plays a starring role in that bottle of sherry?

"When you're looking at the wine when it's in barrel, it almost looks like cotton is resting on top of the wine," he said. "And it's also eating the glycerol from the wine."

Glycerol gives wine its body. It's kind of like the "fat" of the vino.

That leads us to No. 4:

4. Fried calamari or fried chicken love hanging out with a sparking rosé.

"All that richness needs something to cut it through," he said. "There are a couple of ways to do it. It's going to be high acid and carbonation. When you have your fried chicken and a Coke, that high acid and carbonation is going to cut through all of it and makes it taste delicious. It makes your eyes water a little bit, right? Well, we can do it with, what I think, is a superior beverage: sparkling wine."

No matter how much you learn at Saturday's Science of Wine, it all comes back to this dumbed-down bit of advice.

"It's yuck or yum," he smiled. "Is this wine delicious or is it not?"

Here's the "at the glance" info we got from the OSC:

Science of Wine

WHEN: Saturday, April 29, 2017, 7 p.m.-10 p.m.

WHERE: Orlando Science Center, 777 E. Princeton St., Orlando

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Sample more than 150 wines from the world's major regions and dishes from more than 20 Orlando-area culinary partners
• Learn how to taste like a pro with Julie Pepi at Science of Wine Idol (Less than 20 seats remaining)
• Become an expert on perfect pairing at the Swine and Sons Provisions cooking demo - Limited seating available
• Learn to create healthy, wine-inspired desserts with Kristine Thomas
• Participate in live entertainment like creating a wine-themed canvas painting and cigar rolling
• Bid in the silent auction to support the mission of Orlando Science Center - -to inspire science learning for life
• And more!

COST: Tickets are available at www.osc.org/wine. Tickets are $125 for the general public and Science Center Members receive a special rate of $100 per ticket.