Study Finds Wine Experts Largely Irrelevant

Bad news for good noses: researchers at Penn State University have found that many recommendations by wine experts do apply to most consumers. That’s  because the experts’ ability to taste small differences is far greater than the meager abilities of the rest of us. A Penn State news release reports that researchers had wine experts sample an odorless chemical — propylthiouracil — that is used to measure a person’s reaction to bitter tastes. People with acute tasting ability will find the chemical — also referred to as PROP, or prope — extremely bitter, while people with normal tasting abilities say it has a slightly bitter taste, or is tasteless. Yes, madam, the wine experts were far more likely to find the PROP bitter than were non-experts. More bad news: the researchers found that people who were more adventurous in trying new foods were also more willing to drink new types of wines and alcoholic beverages, but this food adventurousness did not necessarily predict wine expertise. In fact, they said, when it comes to wine sense, you either have it or you don’t. Previous studies have shown that while learning plays a role in wine expertise, biological factors most likely explain the acute taste of experts. The good news: it’s OK to drink bad wine, as long as you don’t know it’s bad. Read more from Penn State.