Robin Goldstein devised an experiment in which he isolated 500 volunteers from outside influences and asked them to rate unidentified wines with prices ranging from $1.50 per bottle to $150 a bottle. The results were that some wines such as a $10 bottle of bubbly from Washington State outscored Dom Perignon, which costs $150 per bottle. This shows that the prices of the wines are not quoted only according to its taste, but many other factors are included. From this experiment, it also shows what appeals to novice wine drinkers are significantly different from what appeals to wine experts, which have had professional experiences with wine. This is because the wine experts preferred the Dom Perignon, while the novice wine drinkers preferred otherwise. The novices, had little contact with wine and little knowledge about wine tasting purely used their sense of taste to rate the wines. However, the wine experts who had training or professional experience with wine used not only taste but knowledge they have about wine to rate it. This follows the idea of empiricism, in this context, the novices are like when human beings are born, they have no knowledge, and use their senses to gain them. The experts who had knowledge about wine had different standards for wines, therefore we can also infer that the brain plays a role in wine tasting.
Besides knowledge, there are many other things that affect a person’s preference for wine. Examples are that some wine consumers would only want naturally produced wines or bottles with a modest carbon footprint. Others are status-seekers and score-chasers, who use wine as a tool to look more refined and gain higher status. All these show that what attracts people to wine, has many other factors as compared to its taste.
The cost of wine plays a huge role in wine tasting too. Another research showed that novices without their knowledge of wine were given the prices of different wine and asked to taste them. The results were that they preferred the more expensive wines. It was inferred that the more expensive the particular wine is, the more people like it as they believe that it is supposed to be better since it is more expensive. This correlation also affects us on other consumer goods. This proves that in wine tasting, the cost of the wine is an important factor.
The environment, company, and food are also factors affecting the taste of wine. An example will be if you are enjoying wine with your sweetie in a Tuscan village, it will never taste as good as back home. This shows that under different situations, wine tastes differently to us.
The different environment, cost of wine, personal preferences for wine are all examples of our human brain at work while tasting wine. With so many examples of our brain affecting us greatly when we in wine tasting, we can therefore conclude that taste does matter in wine, however it only matters to a small extend.
Gabriel Chua
11DMA
