Preliminary Study of the Effect of Knowledge and Sensory Expertise on Liking for Red Wines

Abstract

Twelve inexpensive red wines were evaluated by descriptive analysis in which 12 trained judges rated 14 attributes in duplicate. Fifty-seven subjects rated liking for these wines on a 9-point hedonic scale. Subjects were segmented based on their level of wine knowledge (written test) and sensory expertise (sensory test) and on overall expertise, as estimated by the combined scores. Segments were formed by assigning lowest approximately 25%, medium approximately 50%, and highest approximately 25% to different groups. There was no correlation in performance between the two tests (Spearman’s ranked correlation = 0.057), indicating that sensory performance and wine knowledge are two distinctly different types of expertise and that one cannot be inferred from the other. The combined scores better reflect wine expertise, as true "wine experts" should possess knowledge in both domains. Significant differences in liking were found across all subjects. Based on the sensory expertise test, an overall significantly lower rating (p = 0.044) was found for the medium performance group. No overall significant differences in liking were found across groups based on performance in the wine knowledge test or the overall expertise. Despite this, significant differences in preference scores were found for several wines between groups. Individual differences in liking were significant, suggesting that individual preferences play a far larger role than mere level of wine knowledge or sensory expertise. External preference mapping was used to relate subjects liking to descriptive profiles. Although liking could not be modeled well from the sensory properties, some conclusions regarding liking for these subjects could still be made. Wines high in vanilla/oak aroma and high in either berry or canned vegetables aroma were liked significantly more than wines high in leather aroma and/or sour taste.