Cognitive Science and the Wine Experience

I saw an article recently that inspired this post. Of course, I can't find the article, so I can't link to it. But, that does allow me to write off the top my head rather than cheating and perhaps even violating copyright laws. Last I checked, we are allowed to remember things we read and even comment on them.

In any event, the article talked about how what is not in the bottle affects your perception of a wine nearly as much as what is in it. And, they had data to back it up.

What do I mean? And, how does it apply?

In the simplest case, find a bottle of wine and a friend or significant other. Get each of you two wine glasses and pour from the same bottle into each of them. If you don't want much wine which might be a travesty in and of itself, make the pours really small. Place two glasses -- one for each of you -- in a sunny or well-lit part of the home or other environment. And, place the other two in a dimly lit part of the environment. In the bright environment, turn on some upbeat, even rowdy music commensurate with the lighting. In the dimly lit environment, turn on some mood music.

Now, go first into the well-lit environment and each take a good taste of the wine. Be as observational as possible at what you are tasting, what you are feeling and how it makes you feel. Consider your senses, your emotions, and your mood.

Cleanse your pallet and move to the other room. Try the same exercise and remember, it's with the same wine. If you're being really observational and honest, the wine tastes different. If it doesn't, you're not being discriminating enough. This sort of research has been done with hundreds of wine tasters who were exceptionally focused on flavors and feelings (does the wine warm your body, for example) and the differences are noticeable and predictable.

Why do we care?

This part you can't do, but wine marketers can. Suppose I had half a dozen bottles of wine in front of you, each opened as you entered a room. Each contained the same wine. One bottle was absolutely plain, one was sedate looking, another had an artful label, one had a really busy-looking label, one had a bold label, and one had an artistic label.

Research has shown that different types of people and that means different wine buyers are attracted to different bottle types and different label types. In fact, those who are inclined to buy expensive red wines are more attracted, generally, to heavy bottles with generally darker labels, except that those who like ultra-expensive wines are more attracted to wines in ornate labels that might have custom artwork on them. Contrast this to what the research shows about American women between the ages of 25 and 35 who prefer white and blush wines to red. They prefer wine, when bottled, in brightly-colored, or highly transparent, lightweight bottles.

The conclusions are obvious. Know your target market.

It goes even beyond that. Imagine visiting two wineries. One caters to the upscale, serious wine drinker; the other to the casual, weekend afternoon, let's party and get a bit buzzed wine drinker. The first will serve you wine in a more muted setting with little, if any background noise or music. The second will likely have you in a brighter lit, somewhat raucous room.

Either they've done their market research or juss guessed, but there is science and reality to it.