Is the perceived taste or pleasure of the wine influenced by price? It is a mystery similar to the chicken and the egg. Does the wine taste better because it costs more or does it cost more because the wine tastes better?
Here’s a fun way to find out. Ask five or six friends to bring over a bottle of the same varietal of wine – California cabernets for example – at differing price points. Make sure that they’re wrapped in a brown paper bag without any identifying features exposed. Number the bags, then taste and rate the wines. In addition, ask everyone to guess the price of the wine. Reveal the wines and compare notes.
I recently did this with a group of enthusiastic wine consumers and I was shocked at what happened. Here are the results as reported on WTOP Radio’s Wine of the Week segment…
April 8, 2011 – Does Price Influence Taste
Does Price Influence Perception of Wine's Enjoyment
