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> say, a $1,000 bottle of wine (which cannot be distinguished in a blind taste test from a $5 bottle)? Well for one thing, that's wrong- distinguishing wine is
by hwillis 8y ago
> say, a $1,000 bottle of wine (which cannot be distinguished in a blind taste test from a $5 bottle)?
Well for one thing, that's wrong- distinguishing wine is easy. Even people who are just pretty into wine can identify different vinyards etc. and actual sommeliers can nail wine down to the year it was bottled and the conditions it was stored[1].
The thing you're referring to is that when you line up regular people and give them $5 and $1000 bottles of wine, they will rank them in essentially random order. That should be no surprise at all. People have their own favorites. When you line up experts, they can differentiate cheap wine from expensive wine, but inside a broad category (say $200-$1000) they will rank essentially randomly. Again, that shouldn't be surprising at all, because "quality" itself isn't what's being paid for or looked for. Each wine is developed for a taste, not for some abstract quality metric that is the exact same for every wine.
Normal audiophiles will typically aim for objective metrics like THD, but the extreme guys are often aiming for subjective/vague things like timbre, color and soundstage. That leads to some esotericism. They also tend to have gobs of money to throw at this stuff, so a $1000 knob may be more about getting exactly what you want, or even just prestige. Both rational choices. Regardless, its inherently way more absurd than wine because even audiophiles with the most virgin ears will get nothing from .001% THD (very high end) vs <.0001% THD (verging on a lab setup), and virtually all will get nothing from <.01% THD. On the other hand, wine fanatics who have found their favorite wine will be able to recognize it quite accurately.
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZQc0wfkU7I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZQc0wfkU7I
- computerex 8y agoHilarious that you posted a clip from Uncorked as some form of evidence, because no one has ever lied on reality tv to make things more dramatic.
- gaze 8y ago0.0001% THD is better than 120 dB, beyond the spec of an APx555. That’s beyond lab spec.
- Dylan16807 8y ago> Normal audiophiles will typically aim for objective metrics like THD, but the extreme guys are often aiming for subjective/vague things like timbre, color and soundstage. They should probably be using $200 equalizers to get that, not buying $10000 components where more than half of them couldn't possibly change the sound.
- hakfoo 8y agoWhat I find interesting is that equalization seems to be looked down on among a lot of audiophiles. If you don't like how your $2000 amplifier is voiced, get a different one instead of dropping a cheap equalizer inline.
- hansjorg 8y agoOenologists can't even distinguish red from white in a blind test: https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/08/the_most_infamous_study_on_wine_tasting.html https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/08/the_most_infam...
- jayd16 8y agoIf you read that and think no one can taste the difference between a Sauvignon blanc and a Cabernet I don't know what to tell you...
- cheeze 8y ago> The two wines were actually the same white wine as before, but one was dyed with tasteless red food coloring Yes, Oenologists assumed that the wine which was red was actually... red wine. This study is always quoted and is a sham IMO. What this is saying more than anything is "the placebo affect does work." which is totally true. But IMO it doesn't say a whole lot about wine tasting being BS.
- hansjorg 8y agoOf course this says a lot about wine tasting and the claims made by connoisseurs about their wine tasting abilities. It's the kind of information that's a bit too upsetting though, even for non connoisseurs to want to accept.
- Nullabillity 8y agoThen how would you do a blind test instead?
- lobotryas 8y agoBy actually making it blind so the color of the wine dies not predispose your expectation for specific notes or mouth feel.
- x100vc 8y agoThey were students and as such did not dare to question authority or were afraid to make a fool of themselves. This "study" has no value. I can certainly distinguish between the average $10 bottle and $50 bottle. Actually the study does have a value: It induces people to think there are no differences between wines and keeps the prices for the good stuff lower. So please continue to post it.