A research carried among 208 volunteers, published in the scientific journal Food Quality and Preference concluded that the female palate is more discerning, when it comes to wine tasting.
During the study the 208 volunteers, participated in a blind-tasting of six varieties – two whites, one rosé and three reds. While men have a stronger emotional reaction to all wines than women, the female palate is more discerning.
Dr Caroline Chaya of the Technical University of Madrid, who led the study, concluded: “In general, men reported higher scores on significant emotions than women for all the wines. The study, also examined the effects of age on the emotional response to wine tasting, with older drinkers more likely to enjoy any glass of wine whatever its attributes. “But women, although they gave generally lower ratings than men, reported greater differences between the wines.”
The researchers concluded: “All of the wines evoked significantly higher scores in older adults than in middle-aged and young adults for most emotional terms.“However, young adults showed higher discrimination between wines than the other age groups, in terms of emotional responses.”
Wine critic Jilly Goolden said: ‘My perception of being an astute taster is that it’s all to do with really paying attention rather than just knocking it back. And I think women are much more likely to be thinking about the glass in their hand and the fragrances.’
