Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/333548
2 2 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | J u l y - A u g 2 014 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m am a great proponent of the concept that excep- tional hospitality changes the way consumers per- ceive the quality and taste of wine. After reading a recent article in The Telegraph of London, titled "Seeing Red: The Mind-bending Power of Colour" (Google the name to see the arti- cle), I began looking into how color, lighting and music can change people's perception of wines as they taste them. Researchers at Oxford University said they believe that "Wine actually tastes different depending on the condi- tions in which it is drunk, w i t h l i g h t a n d s o u n d impacting on how fresh, fruity, bitter or acidic the drink is perceived." Much of the interest in these types of studies started at the University of Bordeaux. I n 2 0 0 1 , 5 4 e n o l - ogy students there were asked to describe wines. They used words such as prune, chocolate and tobacco to describe a white wine that had been colored red with a dye that had no taste or smell of its own. The students had tasted the same wine before its color was altered and used words such as honey, lemon, lychee and straw to describe it. COLOR CHANGES PERCEPTION Scientists are realizing just how much the visual presentation of a wine affects the way the taste of the wine is perceived. It's not only the positioning of lighting in a tasting room that matters, it's also the color of the lighting, the walls, tasting bar, tablecloths, napkins, even the color of the stems of the glasses. What colors are prevalent in your tast- ing room? Have you considered that a spe- cific color scheme might enhance visitors' enjoyment of the wine and of the experi- ence as a whole? It might be time to start looking into this before you redecorate your tasting room. In most wineries there are now ways to change the color of the room through lighting that can accentuate taste and the visual perceptions. A 2009 study conduct- ed at the Johannes Guttenberg University of Mainz in Germany found that tasters perceived that red wine tasted better in a red- or blue-lit room. The researchers also found that drinkers were willing to pay more for the same wine in such lighting. The same held true for white wine, with the sweetness and fruitiness being most highly rated in red light, rather than green or white light. According to Charles Spence, professor of experimental psychology at Oxford, his studies have found that participants rated wine as tasting 50% sweeter if it is con- SHORT COURSE + Research has shown that a change in the colors of your tasting room can change the way customers perceive your wine. + Lighting in the tasting room can change customers' perceptions of the taste of the wine. + Music also changes consumer per- ceptions of wine. + Adjusting the color and lighting in your retail center can increase prof- itability. Lighting and music can boost tasting room profits WINE WISE MARKETING ELIZABETH SLATER The Color of Money The color of a wine can have a big influence on tasters' perceptions of the wine's character. Photo: Thinkstock/KiddFoto