Industry attacks psychologist for flawed taste test

The wine industry has attacked Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at Hertfordshire University, for claiming that most people can’t tell the difference between cheap plonk and fine wine, but “fool themselves into thinking expensive wines taste better.”

Wiseman’s comments came in the light of a blind taste test he carried out this month at the Edinburgh Science Festival.

In the tasting, 578 people sampled a variety of red and white wines ranging from a £3.49 bottle of Bordeaux to a £29.99 bottle of Champagne.

53% of people were able to distinguish between the cheap and expensive white wines, while only 47% correctly identified the reds, suggesting a 50:50 chance of identifying a wine as cheap or expensive based on taste alone.

But the wine industry has attacked the tasting as flawed. Christine Austin, wine columnist for the Yorkshire Post, called Wiseman’s methodology “ridiculous”, while Geoffrey Kelly, who handles PR for Wine Rack, said the test was “unfair”.

“I found out that the wines were served in thimble-sized glasses – no wonder people were unable to pick out the fine wines from the cheap ones,” Kelly told the drinks business.

Meanwhile, Rowan Gormley, founder of Naked Wines, is keen to carry out his own blind tasting with Wiseman, telling db: “I don’t believe the results are true. I’ve contacted Wiseman – I want to do a blind tasting with him under different conditions. Price isn’t the important issue here, it’s whether people agree on quality.”

The results also go against what fine wine retailer Roberson has discovered through regular blind tastings at its Kensington shop, where “nine times out of ten tasters can successfully identify an expensive wine from a cheaper one, even if they’re completely new to wine,” according to Roberson’s Joe Gilmour.

Lucy Shaw, 18.04.2011