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A study by the psychology faculty of the University of Basel (Switzerland) has found out: People enjoy a wine all the more if they assume it is four times more expensive than the actual price. Professor Jens Glaab and his colleagues organised wine tastings with 140 participants in small groups during an open evening event. Three Italian wines from the 2013 vintage were poured. They were a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC for 10 francs, a Bolgheri DOC for 32 francs and a Toscana IGT for 65 francs.
The cheapest wine was rated as more pleasant by the participants when it was presented to them at four times its actual retail price," the researchers write in the study. In contrast, they registered no change in the participants' evaluation when the price of the most expensive wine was given four times lower.
The participants tasted the wines covertly and were given price information for each. Some were given an inflated price for the cheapest wine, others a low price for the most expensive bottle. Another group was shown the real prices. "I know how important context is. The mind is able to reinterpret reality so that it matches one's expectations," Professor Glaab summed up the finding. From this, the authors of the study call for more intensive research on the connection between wine price and taste.
(uka / Photo: German Wine Institute)