EFFECT OF THE MODIFICATION OF WINE COLOR AND LIGHTING CONDITIONS ON THE PERCEIVED FLAVOR OF WINE, AS MEASURED BY A SIMILARITY SCALE

Twelve subjects, six oenologists and six non-oenologists, evaluated th e distance between three white wines A, B and C, on a line scale of si milarity-dissimilarity. The wines were presented in pairs: AB, AC, BC, AA, BE and CC. In a first experiment, the wines were presented under three lighting conditions: normal white light, red light and green lig ht. No significant difference between the perceived distances was foun d. In a second experiment, an evaluation was made under normal white l ight, with both wines into each pair either being left uncoloured, or artificially coloured (red or green). In a third experiment, the effec t of red colouration was tested, by colouring just one wine of the pai rs. The last two experiments showed that modification of wine's colour had an important effect. The explanation of this effect is discussed. For the panel of non-oenologists, it seems that the variations result from the change in flavour due to the colourant, rather than from a p sycological mechanism. For the panel of oenologists, however, a psycol ogical factor also appears to he involved.