Corks help wine taste better

There have been quite a few quirky discoveries in the world of wine. The latest one is that wine drinkers prefer to be served from bottles with cork stoppers than screw tops. 

Scientists have discovered that uncorking a bottle meant that the wine got rated 15 per cent higher by the wine drinkers than when they were served the same wine in a bottle with a screw-on top.

An experiment done by the Oxford University had 140 participants, who were asked to try the same wine, which was placed in these two types of bottles. They were not informed that it is the same wine and were asked to rate their experience.

Oxford University’s Crossmodal Research Laboratory researcher Professor Charles Spence said, “Our senses are intrinsically linked – what we hear, see and feel has a huge effect on what we taste. The sound and sight of a cork being popped sets our expectations before the wine has even touched our lips, and these expectations then anchor our subsequent tasting experience. These results emphasise the importance of closures for wine, and the clear association between cork and quality in our subconscious.”