A study conducted at this year’s Edinburgh International Science Festival, 9-22 April 2011, shows that most people can’t tell the difference between cheap and expensive bottles of wine. The results were revealed yesterday at Cheers! The Science of Wine and Cocktails, an event held at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as part of Science Festival 2011.
Science Festival Guest Director and Professor of Psychology, Richard Wiseman, conducted the blind trial and found that most people couldn’t tell the difference between budget bottles and expensive fine wines.
The study has gained widespread news coverage, and has sparked media interest as far afield as Australia.
The taste test launched with our programme on 24th February and gave participants the chance to try a wine and then guess whether it was cheap or expensive. A variety of wines were included in the trial; ranging from a £3.49 bottle of Claret to a £29.99 bottle of Champagne.
Almost 600 festival-goers participated, and the study found people could only distinguish between cheap and expensive bottles around 50% of the time – the same odds as flipping a coin.
Professor Wiseman explained, "People were unable to tell expensive from inexpensive wines, and so in these times of financial hardship the message is clear – the inexpensive wines we tested tasted the same as their expensive counterparts."
He went on to say, "When you know the answer, you fool yourself into thinking you would be able to tell the difference, but most people simply can't."
Edinburgh International Science Festival runs from 9-22 April with events happening across the city.
Tickets for events can be booked online at www.sciencefestival.co.uk or by calling the Box Office on 0131 553 0322
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