Or maybe that should be the Science of Anticipation...
Back in January (yes, I am just now getting around to this - hey, I've got a newborn at the house; what's your excuse?), findings were published from a study that measured participant's brain reactions to tasting wine. The trick: it was the same wine, but they were told that the wine was either cheap, or relatively expensive. Guess what - participants enjoyed the wine more when they were told it had a higher price.
With all the duping going on in the wine industry the past few weeks (including an embarrassing gaff for Wine Spectator, and the claim that wine bloggers - Dude included! - were duped by winery marketers), I thought it would be fun to revisit this little ditty, and cast a different light on it in lieu of recent events.
According to one article on the study findings:
"Contrary to the basic assumptions of economics, several studies have provided behavioral evidence that marketing actions can successfully affect experienced pleasantness by manipulating nonintrinsic attributes of goods."
[ My translation: instead of telling you that the wine is "an everyday guzzler" or "as close to sublime perfection as humans are likely to reach," they just upped or lowered the price. ]
This struck me as totally odd (in terms of this being contrary to economic assumptions). I mean, aren't we talking about something that marketing types, hucksters, clever business folk, and seductresses have known for maybe hundreds of years? Not only does a higher price give you the cache factor of shelling out for "the best," setting a higher price does something else just as important:
It gives your brain the opportunity to indulge in anticipation of experiencing "the best." Which is, I'd argue, an essential element in making a "good" experience - a meal, a movie, a date, a wine, and (especially!) sex - "great."...
What studies like this one don't mean is that you can't tell the difference between wine that is pure plonk and wine that is superb. Almost anyone can do that, provided that they are willing to do a little bit of learning beforehand.
The studies don't mean that all wines are created equal. In a lot of ways, the current wine market does set prices fairly, and you tend (with some exceptions, of course) to get what you pay for.
The studies also don't mean that you need fancy-schmancy wine certifications, or advanced study under your belt, to appreciate wine. For that, you only need an open mind, patience, and the willingness to learn. Incidentally, these are the same things that you need to better appreciate a good meal, a movie, a date, and (especially!) sex.
I'm not sure what enlightenment we're hoping to reach with all of this wine duping afoot, but I can tell you this: You know what they say about sex? " When it's good, it's great. And when it's bad, well, it's still pretty good!"
The same applies to wine (and other great experience-givers) because, fundamentally, wine gives us pleasure, connect us together, and provide us the opportunity to open our minds a bit further than they were a few minutes before.
And if we indulge in a bit of anticipation to heighten the experience? From what I can tell, the most harm it might cause us is to think that the experience is a bit better than someone else thought it was.
That's a trade-off I'd take any day of the week.
Cheers!
(images: .geocities.com/SoHo/Nook, danielpadilla.com)
Wine Studies, Sex, and the Art of Anticipation
In the Blogosphere: How Wine Sulfite Regulations Impact Winemakers
The wine sulfites battle rages on.
Some of you will recall that the Dude has been commenting on the topics of sulfites in wine, as well as biodynamic and organic wines.
Jason Haas over at Tablas Creek Vineyard has posted a great article on how the widely misunderstood fear of wine sulfite allergies (& "wine headaches") has combined with overly-cautious (and poorly-constructed) U.S. wine regulations to cause winemakers unnecessary grief...
What U.S. Sulfite / Organic Regulations Mean for Winemakers
In a nutshell, it seems that the U.S. regulations regarding sulfite use for wines that are to be labeled 'organic' have a big negative impact on potential quality of the wine. That's because some use of sulfites in higher quality wines is inevitable - otherwise the finished wine could be too unstable.
According to the Guidelines for Labeling: Wine with Organic References from the U.S. Dept. of Treasury - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms:SULFITE STATEMENT
Less than 10 ppm of sulfites... hmm... good luck! I wrote about the challenges of achieving such a low level of sulfites in wine before. Those winemakers that chase after the pot-o'-gold at the end of the marketing rainbow may make "organic" wines, but that will need to be done without much thought to the ultimate quality of the wine. Those winemakers that truly care about quality - well, they end up being discouraged from even trying to make wines that would be labeled "organic" by the U.S. government.
“100% Organic” products cannot use added sulfi tes
in production. Therefore, since no add ed sulfi tes
are present in the fi nished product, the label may
not require a sulfi te statement. In these cases, a lab
analysis is necessary to verify that the wine contains
less than 10 ppm of sulfites.
What U.S. Sulfite / Organic Regulations Mean for You
And who suffers the most - wine consumers. Because the average person is likely to a) be scared off because of the required sulfite warning labels on wines, often believing (mistakenly) that there last 'wine headache' was caused by sulfties, and b) assuming (mistakenly) that wines labeled as 'organic' are healthier and of higher quality, consumers can have a poor experience tasting a nasty unstable wine that is labeled 'organic' but sucks - and possibly get turned off to wine altogether because of that experience!
Don't Get Suckered into Following the 'Organic' Marketing Bandwagon
Unfortunately, it means that we wine lovers still need to have our wits about us when shopping for wine. Stay sharp, and don't assume that a wine labeled as 'organic' is better for you or is higher quality, or contains no sulfites. Higher quality wines will contain sulfites and probably will NOT be labeled organic - but they will taste better, and in the grand scheme of things will be better for you, will provide better value for money, and will give you a better wine tasting experience!
Cheers!
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus - But there's No Sulfite-Free Wine
My sister (a chemist) recently sent me an e-mail requesting some wine advice:
"I've got a friend at work who has been looking for a sulfite-free wine. Do you know of any that are any good?"My answer: "Nope."
Not that a sulfite-free wine might not be any good, it's just that right now, sulfite-free wines are like governments that don't tax - they don't exist!
Why this is has a lot to do with chemistry (lucky for me my sis is a chemist!). Which is one of the many splendid things when it comes to learning about wine - wine exposes you not just to the sensory pleasures of drinking it, but to the art/magic of constructing a good one along with the chemistry, agriculture, geography, and geology that go into making good wine. Lucky for you Dude has already done his homework in these areas (otherwise he'd have failed all those pesky wine certification exams...), so you don't have to!...
But before we delve into the chemistry, let's examine a bit of background on the whole wine / sulfite thang:
My sister's coworker has reason to be concerned about sulfites, if that coworker is allergic to them. That's because for those people, having exposure to sulfites in drinks and food can cause a severe (and in very rare cases fatal)asthmatic reaction.
But before you start pouring all of your fine wine down the sink drain, you should know that only 0.01% - 01.0% of the U.S. population is estimated to be allergic to sulfites (probably fewer than 1 in 100 people).
If you're even an occasional wine drinker, chances are that you've heard the rumor that sulfites in wine cause headaches. Despite being popular in the rumor mill, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that 'wine headaches' are caused by sulfites. In face, if you do get headaches when drinking wine, chances are higher that the headache could be a reaction to any of several esters (flavor compounds) that occur naturally in wine.
Chances are greater still that you simply have a hangover (so drink more water next time, my party-loving friend, or - egads! - drink less wine).
Now back to the chemistry - sulfites are produced naturally during the fermentation process (so you probably are exposed to them in some beers, soy sauces, and other fermented liquids). The amount produced naturally is pretty small - anywhere from 6 to 40 ppm (parts per million). PPM is roughly equivalent to 1 milligram of something in 1 liter of water. Another way to think about it - 1 ppm is about 4 drops of ink in a 55 gallon barrel of water. Dangerous if you're talking about arsenic, but not so much when you're talking sulfites.
U.S. government regulations stipulate that wines containing 10 ppm or more of sulfites need to display a warning on the bottle, in order to alert consumers that are allergic to sulfites. Since more than 10 ppm are created during fermentation, and given that the labels don't have to specify the amount of sulfites the wine contains, that pretty much means every bottle of wine needs to carry the warning - effectively making the warning a bit useless and confusing consumers that may not be allergic to sulfites but want to buy wine that has minial sulfite content.
Sulfites are also added during the winemaking process, which can up the ppm of the sulfites in your wine (the U.S. government allows up to about 300+ ppm). Why do winemakers do this? They've been doing it for hundreds of years - the first historical record of its use in winemaking is from a royal German decree in 1487 - in order to kill bacteria, prevent browning of wine form oxidation, and to help stabilize the finished wine. The 1487 decree specifies use of about 19 ppm of sulfer, which according to wine writer Hugh Johnson (in his Story of Wine)is an "improbably low" amount.Some winemakers - mostly those making biodynamic / organic wines - deliberately avoid adding any additional sulfities (beyond those naturally produced during fermentation, of course). My personal thoughts on the current low quality of most organic & biodynamic wines aside, there are some quality producers out there who are trying to make great wines biodynamically, which are also 'lower-sulfite' wines (usually 100 ppm or less). A fine example is Frog's Leap - lower on sulfites, big on taste, and good for the environment to boot.
A final word of caution - when shopping for 'low-sulfite' wines, don't expect to find a long list of great-tasting options. So when you find a few that you do like, stick with 'em!
Those looking for a bit more on the topic of sulfites in wine should check out this handy reference from UC Davis.
Cheers!
