Weird Expensive wine and cheap plonk taste the same to most people.

[tom_mai78101]

In a blind taste test, volunteers were unable to distinguish between expensive and cheap wine.

An expensive wine may well have a full body, a delicate nose and good legs, but the odds are your brain will never know.

A survey of hundreds of drinkers found that on average people could tell good wine from plonk no more often than if they had simply guessed.

In the blind taste test, 578 people commented on a variety of red and white wines ranging from a £3.49 bottle of Claret to a £29.99 bottle of champagne. The researchers categorised inexpensive wines as costing £5 and less, while expensive bottles were £10 and more.

The study found that people correctly distinguished between cheap and expensive white wines only 53% of the time, and only 47% of the time for red wines. The overall result suggests a 50:50 chance of identifying a wine as expensive or cheap based on taste alone – the same odds as flipping a coin.

Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at Hertfordshire University, conducted the survey at the Edinburgh International Science Festival.

"People just could not tell the difference between cheap and expensive wine," he said. "When you know the answer, you fool yourself into thinking you would be able to tell the difference, but most people simply can't."

All of the drinkers who took part in the survey were attending the science festival, but Wiseman claims the group was unlikely to be any worse at wine tasting than a cross-section of the general public.

Expensive wine and cheap plonk taste the same to most people

In a blind taste test, volunteers were unable to distinguish between expensive and cheap wine

www.theguardian.com

Now, who says we have to pay expensive wine to our guests?

 

[Dan]

Oh thank heaven for 7-11!

 

[oorosco]

Have you also heard that one half of the population is less intelligent than the other half? Point is, does it matter what the average people think? They're unlikely to have any expensive wine regardless, also >=10 in cost is not a valid point in stating that it's an expensive wine. People around me always comment on the quality of the wine... i myself dislike wine but the point i'm trying to make is, these average folks tasting average price wine (yes, average) vs. cheap wine are bound to be confused.

 

[SerraAvenger]

As a matter of fact, we have so much wine produced that it is no wonder the general cheap plonk is no different from the general cheap plonk with a higher price tag. It is probably the same wine.

If you want to check for differences, we should actually perform these experiments with a) organic vs conventional b) as oorosco mentioned, classy wine, not the 10$ a bottle stuff. Although yes, there is some good wine at that price tag as well.

The amount of numbers on the wine has less implication on quality than ever. It is more of a prestige thing.

 

[Slapshot136]

I can go to europe, find some $3 bottle of wine, and be willing to be that it is much better then a $10 bottle of wine found in the U.S. - the price/quality of wine have very little correlation, but that doesn't meant that there isn't a difference between good wine and bad wine