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> The organizers of this intriguing prank started out by enlisting the help of Eric Boschman, named Belgium’s best sommelier in 1988 OK so they got a famous an

by ftxbro 3y ago

> The organizers of this intriguing prank started out by enlisting the help of Eric Boschman, named Belgium’s best sommelier in 1988 OK so they got a famous and trusted sommelier to lie for their story. What does that prove?

noslenwerdna 3y ago
It proves that the judges were just using the recommendation of a sommelier rather than actually judging the quality of the wine?
- cratermoon 3y ago
  That and the €50 ($55) entrance fee proves that the contest is more of a marketing stunt for Gilbert & Gaillard than a real test of wine-making ability. Many industries have these "contests". Photography publications, for example, run contests that collect entry fees, and winners get featured in the publication. There are writing contests run the same way. It gives the publication content, and instead of paying artists they charge them money.
kylebenzle 3y ago
This prank along with previous studies prove that wine tasting is 100% made up. Anyone telling you they can taste the difference, even between red and white wine, is lying. Its AMAZING that it seems like 99% of average people are convinced that they can taste the difference between red and white wine but they cant.
- ericbarrett 3y ago
  I've watched somebody correctly identify the grape and region of France that a wine came from in a double-blind test.
- cookingrobot 3y ago
  It’s true sometimes people can’t guess if what they’re tasting is red or white. And people may not agree on which wines they like better. But it’s obviously true that different wines taste different. This is easy (and fun) to test at home.
  - noirbot 3y ago
    Yea, this is always the thing that gets me about the "lol wine tasting is all lies" crowd. Sure, I'll easily admit that I may not be able to identify and explain the difference between various grapes or such, but that doesn't mean all wine tastes literally exactly the same. I don't necessarily like wine because it's a specific grape, or a specific origin, or more or less expensive, but that doesn't invalidate that I prefer it to some other wine. And an experienced person who has tried a lot of wine, may be able to take my explanation of what I like and recommend me something I'd like more than something else. It's a bad argument that relies on muddling the objective and the subjective. Yes, in a totally blind tasting, people can be surprised by what they think something is. But if I walk into a wine bar, and tell them I like red wines that are dry and have red fruit flavors, they can likely give me something I'll enjoy. If they tell me that there's a white wine that they think I'll like because of that explanation, then sweet, that sounds cool and different. It doesn't mean that hurr durr all wine is the same.
- reducesuffering 3y ago
  I will drink the most bottom of the barrel reds happily but you can shoot me if I couldn’t tell the difference between a red and white.
- Daishiman 3y ago
  This is a myth that's been perpetuated by a single bad study that lacks any credibility whatsoever.
  - kurthr 3y ago
    Yeah, and it's pretty easy to test by just buying two (a red and a white) bottles and trying yourself. Of course most red food dye the wrong color and you would probably taste it if you used that much... so just blindfold your self and try. The lack of tannins, malolactic fermentation, and often the lack of oak will make it pretty obvious they are different. It's like saying you can't taste the difference between a Guiness and a Bud, because you've never had them before? Maybe you don't know which is which with a blindfold on, but you can taste the difference.
    - dagw 3y ago
      To be fair, there exists white wines with tannins, oak and even light skin maceration which, if coloured red, could confuse some people inexperience with those types of whites.
      - kurthr 3y ago
        Certainly, Grenache comes to mind as a red varietal/preparation that could be confused with some whites. There aren't many common (cheap) white wines with much tannin, perhaps some heavy contact SavBlanc, but that nose is so distinctive that it would be hard to confuse? My point is mostly about the $3-10 wines which have pretty simple notes. They have very particular styles and relatively restricted grape varietals due to cost, availability, and customer expectations. I'm sure for the right money a good winemaker could take the right white grape and make it taste like a cheap red without the color (lots of skin contact, malolactic fermentation, heavy oak, and some age. On the other spectrum, I'm sure you could screw up and make any wine/grape so terrible you couldn't tell what it came from. There are also people who couldn't tell the difference between a pilsner and an ale, I suppose.
- berkle4455 3y ago
  > Its AMAZING that it seems like 99% of average people are convinced that they can taste the difference between red and white wine I'm not sure what sort of high-quality wine you drink, cause I drink cheap stuff, and I can 100% tell the difference between a pinot noir and pinot grigio. Red vs. white isn't a coke vs pepsi thing, it's a coke vs mountain dew.
- arp242 3y ago
  If you play a bunch of notes for me then I won't be able to identify them exactly either, and I might not even rank them correctly from high to low (especially when played on a variety of instruments) because I'm about as tonedeaf as they come. That doesn't mean I can't distinguish two songs, or that I can't like one song and dislike another. People may not be able to identify wine tastes very accurately, but that doesn't mean that "anyone telling you they can taste the difference, even between red and white wine, is lying". Obviously there are differences in taste between different wines, and that statement is so utterly bizarre and so obviously untrue it makes me wonder if you have ever tasted more than one bottle of wine.
- OJFord 3y ago
  That's complete nonsense, though obviously not 100% (I'm no sommelier) I could definitely identify some grapes blind (and then implicitly could tell you if it's red or white). And a master sommelier... well they can do that and then some. If I wasn't sure of the grape, sure I might not confidently say if it's red or white. Because other than visually that isn't really as big a deal as it naïvely seems? Wine doesn't taste 'red' or 'white' it has different flavours and some grapes are red and others are white, but that's really only a visual difference. (Ok fine some flavours or textures are so much more common in one vs the other that it might allow a solid guess of the colour even if you had no idea of the grape - 'minerally' or 'bready'/'yeasty' tasting/smelling is probably white; very tannic is probably red. But I think my point stands, it's pretty meaningless, and certainty will come from identifying something more specific, and then knowing what colour that is, to satisfy the naïve hater that thinks that's the most important trait.)
  - barelysurviving 3y ago
    White wine can also be made from red grapes.
    - OJFord 3y ago
      Sure, and maybe you do mean that in agreement, but doesn't that go to my point that the colour isn't really as relevant as someone who thinks it's all a scam and anyone who thinks they like wine is an idiot believes? And some are blends of both, but we'd call the result white or red according to what dominates. Champagne for example.
- Tommstein 3y ago
  > Anyone telling you they can taste the difference, even between red and white wine, is lying. Its AMAZING that it seems like 99% of average people are convinced that they can taste the difference between red and white wine but they cant. Bro, what? I hardly drink wine, and couldn't tell you whether a red wine is the finest red wine ever or the shittiest, and likewise for white wines, but I can absolutely tell you whether a wine is red or white. Don't know what the hell wines you're drinking.
- dagw 3y ago
  Anyone telling you they can taste the difference, even between red and white wine, is lying. There are competitions all around the world where you can go and literally watch people doing this in real time. Anybody can learn to fairly reliably identify 5-6 of most common grapes in a blind tasting with a bit of practice.

by ftxbro 3y ago

noslenwerdna 3y ago

It proves that the judges were just using the recommendation of a sommelier rather than actually judging the quality of the wine?

cratermoon 3y ago
That and the €50 ($55) entrance fee proves that the contest is more of a marketing stunt for Gilbert & Gaillard than a real test of wine-making ability. Many industries have these "contests". Photography publications, for example, run contests that collect entry fees, and winners get featured in the publication. There are writing contests run the same way. It gives the publication content, and instead of paying artists they charge them money.

kylebenzle 3y ago

This prank along with previous studies prove that wine tasting is 100% made up. Anyone telling you they can taste the difference, even between red and white wine, is lying. Its AMAZING that it seems like 99% of average people are convinced that they can taste the difference between red and white wine but they cant.

ericbarrett 3y ago
I've watched somebody correctly identify the grape and region of France that a wine came from in a double-blind test.
cookingrobot 3y ago
It’s true sometimes people can’t guess if what they’re tasting is red or white. And people may not agree on which wines they like better. But it’s obviously true that different wines taste different. This is easy (and fun) to test at home.
- noirbot 3y ago
  Yea, this is always the thing that gets me about the "lol wine tasting is all lies" crowd. Sure, I'll easily admit that I may not be able to identify and explain the difference between various grapes or such, but that doesn't mean all wine tastes literally exactly the same. I don't necessarily like wine because it's a specific grape, or a specific origin, or more or less expensive, but that doesn't invalidate that I prefer it to some other wine. And an experienced person who has tried a lot of wine, may be able to take my explanation of what I like and recommend me something I'd like more than something else. It's a bad argument that relies on muddling the objective and the subjective. Yes, in a totally blind tasting, people can be surprised by what they think something is. But if I walk into a wine bar, and tell them I like red wines that are dry and have red fruit flavors, they can likely give me something I'll enjoy. If they tell me that there's a white wine that they think I'll like because of that explanation, then sweet, that sounds cool and different. It doesn't mean that hurr durr all wine is the same.
reducesuffering 3y ago
I will drink the most bottom of the barrel reds happily but you can shoot me if I couldn’t tell the difference between a red and white.
Daishiman 3y ago
This is a myth that's been perpetuated by a single bad study that lacks any credibility whatsoever.
- kurthr 3y ago
  Yeah, and it's pretty easy to test by just buying two (a red and a white) bottles and trying yourself. Of course most red food dye the wrong color and you would probably taste it if you used that much... so just blindfold your self and try. The lack of tannins, malolactic fermentation, and often the lack of oak will make it pretty obvious they are different. It's like saying you can't taste the difference between a Guiness and a Bud, because you've never had them before? Maybe you don't know which is which with a blindfold on, but you can taste the difference.
  - dagw 3y ago
    To be fair, there exists white wines with tannins, oak and even light skin maceration which, if coloured red, could confuse some people inexperience with those types of whites.
    - kurthr 3y ago
      Certainly, Grenache comes to mind as a red varietal/preparation that could be confused with some whites. There aren't many common (cheap) white wines with much tannin, perhaps some heavy contact SavBlanc, but that nose is so distinctive that it would be hard to confuse? My point is mostly about the $3-10 wines which have pretty simple notes. They have very particular styles and relatively restricted grape varietals due to cost, availability, and customer expectations. I'm sure for the right money a good winemaker could take the right white grape and make it taste like a cheap red without the color (lots of skin contact, malolactic fermentation, heavy oak, and some age. On the other spectrum, I'm sure you could screw up and make any wine/grape so terrible you couldn't tell what it came from. There are also people who couldn't tell the difference between a pilsner and an ale, I suppose.
berkle4455 3y ago
> Its AMAZING that it seems like 99% of average people are convinced that they can taste the difference between red and white wine I'm not sure what sort of high-quality wine you drink, cause I drink cheap stuff, and I can 100% tell the difference between a pinot noir and pinot grigio. Red vs. white isn't a coke vs pepsi thing, it's a coke vs mountain dew.
arp242 3y ago
If you play a bunch of notes for me then I won't be able to identify them exactly either, and I might not even rank them correctly from high to low (especially when played on a variety of instruments) because I'm about as tonedeaf as they come. That doesn't mean I can't distinguish two songs, or that I can't like one song and dislike another. People may not be able to identify wine tastes very accurately, but that doesn't mean that "anyone telling you they can taste the difference, even between red and white wine, is lying". Obviously there are differences in taste between different wines, and that statement is so utterly bizarre and so obviously untrue it makes me wonder if you have ever tasted more than one bottle of wine.
OJFord 3y ago
That's complete nonsense, though obviously not 100% (I'm no sommelier) I could definitely identify some grapes blind (and then implicitly could tell you if it's red or white). And a master sommelier... well they can do that and then some. If I wasn't sure of the grape, sure I might not confidently say if it's red or white. Because other than visually that isn't really as big a deal as it naïvely seems? Wine doesn't taste 'red' or 'white' it has different flavours and some grapes are red and others are white, but that's really only a visual difference. (Ok fine some flavours or textures are so much more common in one vs the other that it might allow a solid guess of the colour even if you had no idea of the grape - 'minerally' or 'bready'/'yeasty' tasting/smelling is probably white; very tannic is probably red. But I think my point stands, it's pretty meaningless, and certainty will come from identifying something more specific, and then knowing what colour that is, to satisfy the naïve hater that thinks that's the most important trait.)
- barelysurviving 3y ago
  White wine can also be made from red grapes.
  - OJFord 3y ago
    Sure, and maybe you do mean that in agreement, but doesn't that go to my point that the colour isn't really as relevant as someone who thinks it's all a scam and anyone who thinks they like wine is an idiot believes? And some are blends of both, but we'd call the result white or red according to what dominates. Champagne for example.
Tommstein 3y ago
> Anyone telling you they can taste the difference, even between red and white wine, is lying. Its AMAZING that it seems like 99% of average people are convinced that they can taste the difference between red and white wine but they cant. Bro, what? I hardly drink wine, and couldn't tell you whether a red wine is the finest red wine ever or the shittiest, and likewise for white wines, but I can absolutely tell you whether a wine is red or white. Don't know what the hell wines you're drinking.
dagw 3y ago
Anyone telling you they can taste the difference, even between red and white wine, is lying. There are competitions all around the world where you can go and literally watch people doing this in real time. Anybody can learn to fairly reliably identify 5-6 of most common grapes in a blind tasting with a bit of practice.