Wine and "The Placebo Effect" and "Experienced Pleasantness"

I have no doubt that there is a placebo effect related to wine tasting and that many people fall victim to this including myself.

It is worth reading the controversial articles below. I have been at wine tastings where the tasters have almost refused to believe that a wine was faulty. The wine in question was a Bollinger Vintage Champagne: there was nothing wrong with the wine when it was put in the bottle but the cork was faulty and the wine therefore had the bitter and earthy taste of a corked wine. I was on a wine course and  many of the students refused to accept that such an expensive wine could be at fault.  To me and some of my fellow students the wine tasted spoilt and eventually we were able to convince the rest that the wine was in fact spoilt. We had to make allowance for some of the tasters who were completely insensitive to the taste of "corked" wine.

There have been many experiments performed where tasters were asked to identify a particular wine or type of grape or to be able to differentiate between white wine and red wine at a blind tasting. It seems that it is much more difficult to assess a wine when you cannot see its colour  or see the label.

Scientists have also put red dye into white wine and asked the tasters to describe the wine. Often the tasters describe red wine tastes.

It is quite easy to fool the most experienced tasters and even Masters of Wine, heaven forbid, at a blind tasting. Experienced pleasantness is a phenomenon which is easily influenced by the mind's eye - we often assume that a product is better because it costs more.

Price is also an influential factor apart from brand name. The students tasting the Bollinger were unable to accept that such an expensive wine could taste so awful. Unfortunately the fungus that causes wine taste does not recognise price, reputation or brand name; it acts just like the flu virus.

Top price wines with a particular brand name may not be in fact be top quality wines. We must all beware of the placebo effect and keep our feet on the ground when describing wine and its quality. We must also not become wine snobs and dismiss cheaper brands. Blind tasting is a great equaliser.

Our sense of taste and smell can easily be influenced by the suggestion of others and our beliefs for we are not completely rational. I have often been influenced by others at a tasting into ignoring my initial impressions. Quite often, as a naïve student, I have  tasted or smelt none of the fruit or floral flavours that my fellow tasters were describing but I have written down that I have actually tasted such flavours - all in a kind of King's New Clothes effect. I have known better for years not to fall for it.

All is not lost , however, the other night my wife described the taste of a red wine exactly as the producers had described it on the rear of the bottle. My wife could not have read the description prior to the tasting and she could not have known what wine I was going to pull from the rack before I opened it - this is good tasting indeed and she hasn't passed any wine exams.

Identifying a good wine is not just about tastes and fruit flavours. We need to asses the wine for its acidity, sweetness, tannin, concentration and complexity and its length on the palate and how well the wine is balanced. You may think that the placebo effect is too simple to affect our judgement of all this - not so.

You may ask what is the point of wine tasting and buying good wine or even studying it?. Well it gives great pleasure to many. Many people have found pain relief from the placebo effect in medicine. So the placebo effect does help to make life better. However, we should be aware of the dangers when something is marketed to be what it is not especially if money is tight. You should also be aware of the placebo effect when invited to a tasting as part of a wine investment promotion.

Despite all, you can imagine how good I feel when I can identify a wine blind, even though this rarely happens, but no placebo effect here. This skill can be learnt to some extent but familiarity helps. At a blind tasting in England my wife was easily able to pick out the English sparkling wine from the Champagne. Being born in the region helps as she has been familiar with and drinking Champagne wine for years.

http://palatepress.com/2009/10/wine/the-placebo-effect-and-wine/

http://www.pnas.org/content/105/3/1050.full

http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/baba-shiv-how-wines-price-tag-affect-its-taste

It is not just wine enthusiasts who can be fooled by the placebo effect. I was once in a cosmetic shop in France with my wife who bought some face cream, which was being marketed on the basis that after application, of the magical potion, one's face would defy the laws of gravity and all the crinkles would disappear. The shop assistant could not understand why I laughed. When we left the shop I mused that Isaac Newton would be laughing too; my wife explained that despite all this the cream made her feel better. Perhaps, this is what life is all about.

It is not just women who fall for this sort of marketing. One of my other interests is Hi-Fi which is a past time dominated by men. Some "audiophile" enthusiasts believe that paying more is better. They even believe that electrons flow through wires better when they are connected up in a certain way, and the manufacturers have put arrows on the cables to show which way round they should go. Think about it for a few seconds, they actually believe that this improves the sound and they actually hear the difference. Of course it is only cables which costs hundreds of pounds per metre which react in this way. Your average electron from Maplins  knows nothing about this and just flows from negative to positive polarity. Just like cork taint fungus electrons do not recognise cost or brand name and reputation.

Lots "audiophiles" spend all their money on such frippery and some of them get themselves into debt trouble - all as a result of the placebo effect: I hope some of them have got some money left to spend on a decent bottle of wine.

http://coconut-audio.com/rcainterconnects.html

Château Tour Saint Germain 2011 AOC Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux.

We drank this wine over a family supper and we were very impressed after drinking a bottle of bog standard Lambrusco as an aperitif - oh well. The 2011 vintage was very mixed in Bordeaux; it was too hot in June and too cool in July and August. The Château, however, was able to maintain its standards to produce a fruity well balanced wine which is now ready for drinking.

The vineyards are situated not far from the city of Blaye on the right bank of the Gironde. Blaye is a citadel city which is well worth visiting for its wine and its cuisine.

Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux is one of my favourite appellations. The wines are of a really good standard and they are unpretentious and they are exceptional value for money. Château Tour Saint Germain is a perfect example and it should drunk with good food.

We bought this wine in France but I cannot remember where or when or how much. All I know is that it is exceptional value for money and it puts to shame many branded names from all over the world including Bordeaux.

The wine is made from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec grapes and is matured in oak barrels. You can really tell that the winemaker is proud of his product. If you can find it buy it: you will not be disappointed.

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/tour+st+germain+cote+de+bordeaux+blaye+france/2011

http://tour-saint-germain.com/

Lloyd Reserve Shiraz 2005 Red - Coriole Vineyards McLaren Vale

Lloyds Reserve Shiraz is an estate produced wine from the Coriole vineyards and is a really superior product which rivals most other wines that I have tried from France, Italy, Spain, the US and Australia. It has its own unique flavour. This wine is little known in England and I have never seen it on the shelves of a wine merchant: it was a present brought to me by some Australian friends.  They could not have chosen a better gift.

The 2005 is now ready for drinking but you must drink it with good food to really appreciate it. We drank it with lamb from the Kent marshes, cooked rare with garlic, onion and rosemary. It went perfectly with a richly flavoured dish and the tannin in the wine refreshed the palate all the way through the meal: gorgeous.

The McLaren Vale in South Australia has a Mediterranean climate which is perfect for the growth of the Shiraz grape.

The wine had a flavour of red and black berry fruits with a spicy edge typical of the Shiraz or Syrah grape. The wine was strong in alcohol and full bodied but the tannin was really beginning to soften. It was dry with a balanced acidity. It had none of the jammy flavour often associated with Australian red wines produced by the major brand names. All the components were well integrated and it had long length on the palate and this combined with its complexity and concentration of fruit flavours leads me to conclude that it is exceptional wine. If you can find it in the UK or the US it will cost you more than a bob or two or a considerable number of quarters. It is worth every penny that you can find and when compared to other good quality wines it represents a bargain.

Luckily my friends brought me two bottles and I am saving the other for  another special family occasion. I am fortunate to have such good friends.

https://www.coriole.com/wines/reserves/lloyd-reserve-shiraz/ - none of this is "hype" as far as I am concerned.

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/coriole+shiraz+lloyd+reserve/1/-/-/a/26

2001 Les Vignerons du Brulhois Château Grand Chêne, Côtes du Brulhois Red, France

We drank this wine a couple of weeks ago and it was simply superb. It had aged very well and still had a lot of life left in it. It will age for several years more was beginning to reveal itself.

The label on the back of the bottle described the wine as having a flavour of plums and red fruits and oak and with a flavour of roast coffee or Torréfaction in French. My wife guessed these flavours blind. Rarely does a wine taste exactly as it says on the bottle.

This is perfectly well integrated wine with a long length on the palate.  I cannot remember how much it cost when we bought it in the region but it was probably less than 10 Eur per bottle. It is superb value for money and if you can find it then I recommend that you buy a  case.

It went down really well with some  roast beef cooked rare.

Côtes du Brulhois wines were once termed "black wines" on account of the strength of the deep black colour of the Tannat grape used in production.



The Côtes du Brulhois was granted appellation status in 2011.

http://www.thevineroute.com/southwest/les-vignerons-du-brulhois-in-the-land-of-black-wines/