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When I roll into the wine section, I’m immediately hit with a million decisions to make. Winter? Red. Summer? White. Did I just get paid? Do I go to the “$$” shelf instead of the “$” shelf? What country should I aim to buy from? Whichever country is going to make me feel the most luxurious despite the fact that I’m still trying to spend under $13.99.
But much like you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, you also shouldn’t judge a wine by its label. Luckily, Wine.net did a study with over 2,000 wine drinkers to see if we actually do or not.
They began with these three bottles of red wine:
Me? I’m probably going option three. It screams, “an old French family has mastered their wine making over the last 200 years and you’d have to be an idiot not to drink this wine.”
They also asked the respondents to choose from these three bottles of white.
I’m taking option three again, because the simplistic bottle combined with the exotic name tells me, “These people have a high taste level and probably don’t drink wine for poors.” But then again, I’m not everyone which is why they probably sought out opinions from their 2,000 respondents. And what Wine.net wanted to figure out by getting opinions of the above bottles was pretty simple.
Did they choose based on how appealing the label was or the shape and color of the bottle? Or how expensive the wine looked? Were they familiar with the region or wine maker? Had they tasted (and liked) the wine in the past?
They then simply asked the respondents to select their “favorite” bottle from both the red and white wine groups. The results? Probably as you expected.
So there you have it. 80% of people are choosing on label looks alone, 65% are choosing based on how expensive it looks (*Girl With Raised Hand Emoji*), half chose based on the structure of the bottle, and 60% went off the region.
I’ll venture to guess that a fair share of those 2,000 people would probably take any of the bottles as long as they get a good buzz from it, though. .
[via Wine.net]
Images via Unsplash and Wine.net
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Will
Will (Twitter / Instagram) is the host of The Sunday Scaries Podcast.
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I’m pretty sure my wine taste is just based on the fact that if it has a screw top I assume it’s cheap…
You’d be amazed man. I’ve seen screw top bottles above $150.
Screw tops are a newer winery thing, not necessarily a cheaper winery thing.
A lady that works at a winery told me that they are actually more effective than corks, but people perceive corks as fancier. Never googled/snoped it, but it seemed legit.
Yeah I’ve heard the same actually. Many of the more well-known places haven’t changed over simply because of that perception…which makes it a bit of a catch 22.
Personally, I’m not too proud to drink Boone’s Farm, so it’s all about the impression on the girl.
Wine with cork will evolve more once it’s in the bottle than a bottle with a screw top. Not a good or bad thing necessarily but a choice by the winemaker.
At any rate, knowing about wine is like bowling talent. Nice to know what you’re doing, but know too much and you’re a Chief
I judge everything by its cover.
My wine of choice? Whatever my girlfriend says
Label and name, 100%.
I only drink the finest bagged wine.
Serious dilemma: I have never been a wine drinker. I drank a bottle of red when I was 15, puked my brains out, and have had maybe 2 glasses of it since, yet I love all kinds of beer, dark liquor, and vodka. Where do I start with wine?
Just shoot out of your slump, man.
This isn’t a slump. This is winning a Cy Young your rookie year, retiring, and 9 years later jumping into the bullpen to take on juiced McGwire & corked Sosa
Sup, Rick Ankiel
This string of comments was about the best possible set of references that I think about 30 people in the world get (mostly Ankiel with his 95mph to the backstop fastball)
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If you prefer beers such as porters, then I’d go for reds. Try a darker one with tobacco notes, or one aged in bourbon barrels.
If you prefer light beers, then probably just stick with whites for now. Start with whites high in sugar, then work towards Chards.
What I did was go to a winery and go through a full tasting. They state with light whites, then slowly work towards reds, then dark reds. It eases your palate into reds. And you usually get to try some dessert wines at the end which are delicious and taste like syrup.
You could start with the gross sweet wines, like Riesling or Moscato, at the sacrifice of everyone assuming you’re a female regardless of your actual gender. Or you could just face your fears and head back into the Red. I’m in love with Red blends and they are not hard to gain a taste for.
Off to trader joes then
My uncle lives in Napa, and instilled in me a disdain for non-Napa wineries long, long ago (before I could legally drink the shit). Long story short, I instinctively look for Napa or other northern CA labels in the 10-20 dollar range. If you don’t downvote me for this snooty vanity, Todd’s GF would be perfect for you.
That $8.99 shelf at trader joe’s is my jam
If a bottle of wine has a picture of a horse or waterfowl on the label, I’m buying it 10/10 times.
I’ve had both option 1 and 2 for the Reds. Both good wines, solid choices.