The wine delusion

taste five different wine bottles, priced at $5, $10, $35, $35, $45 and $90 respectively.
There were however only three bottles, with the $5 bottle labelled as $45 and $90 bottle
labelled as $10. The results, as noted by Plassmann et al (cited in Berdik, 2012), showed
that the more expensive the wine, the more they liked it. In other words, increasing the price
of the same wine significantly increases the pleasure one gets from it. These results mean
that our brains connect sensory properties with expectations on how it should be. Knowing
something beforehand about the quality of an experience gives us valuable additional
information (Berdik, 2012). But our brains can’t evaluate this value in detail. Because it
requires time, effort and thought. Our brains tend to default to mental shortcuts. Behavioural
economists call this principle, ‘cognitive bias’ (Moesgaard­Kjeldsen, 2014). It sets up
expectations based on the pre­experience. However, if our expectations were well beyond
our actual experience, there would be a clash. Behavioural economists call this principle,
‘contrast effect’ (Berdik, 2012). Which means, an average wine will taste even worse if
people expected it to taste really well, or paid a lot for it. The contrast effect works exactly
the same in opposite too. So, perhaps the only way to find our true preferences is to avoid
expectations.
The truths
Blind tasting has been a saving ground, especially when it comes to dealing with
problems of expectations on price versus quality. Goldstein (2008) published a manifesto
in The Wine Trials with three useful arguments. First, expectations, especially those based
on price, rule our evaluation of wine. Goldstein (2008) writes, ‘By questioning wine prices,
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