Colour as a driver of Pinot noir wine quality judgments: An investigation involving French and New Zealand wine professionals

Abstract

Despite anecdotal reports suggesting an influence of perceived wine colour on wine professionals’ judgments of wine intrinsic quality, there is a lack of empirical evidence on the phenomenon. The major aim of the present study was to investigate the importance of perceived colour as a driver of chemosensory judgments of Pinot noir wines including sensory evaluations of quality and typicality. Twenty-three French and 23 New Zealand (NZ) wine professionals judged Pinot noir wines from France and NZ on a range of attributes including perceived colour (hue, intensity, and brightness), varietal characteristics, and overall wine quality. The wines were evaluated in both standard clear glassware where colour could serve as a cue, and in opaque (black) glassware. Results demonstrated that colour was not a major factor in sensory assessment of the Pinot noir wines including in judgments of wine quality, although wine colour had several minor effects. On the other hand, the data show that perceived balance of a wine was the most important factor driving quality judgments of the wines for tasters of both cultures. The data are discussed in terms of the concept of perceived quality in wine as well as in terms of cultural differences in sensory evaluation of Pinot noir wines. Finally, an important methodological issue, namely usage of opaque (black) glassware as opposed to standard, clear glassware in wine sensory research, is discussed.