Does more expensive wine taste better?

Here is a report about an interesting study from CalTech. I could swear I wrote about this topic before, but I cannot find the post. In any event, here is a quote from the article:

Researchers from the California Institute of Technology and Stanford's business school have directly seen that the sensation of pleasantness that people experience when tasting wine is linked directly to its price. And that's true even when, unbeknownst to the test subjects, it's exactly the same Cabernet Sauvignon with a dramatically different price tag.

I am not going to go off on a rant about this study like some wine writers have, and I liked that the researchers apparently took a $90 bottle of wine and claimed that it was a $10 bottle of wine in doing this study. Nor am I going to get bent out of shape that some, foreign wine critics have taken this study as a sign that Americans are concerned only about price, not value.

Instead, nothing about this study surprised me because so often expectations can influence one's enjoyment of wine. Imagine you bought a $350 bottle of wine. You open it up with your significant other over a great meal (maybe some candles are lit). Maybe even, with the first glass, you get engaged. But, suppose the wine is average. Would you not want that wine to taste better than it tastes? And since perception is such a key part about enjoying wine, and your own desires can influence your own perceptions, is it not realistic to expect that one would view the wine as exceptional?

Now, here is the funny thing. I can give an example where I have known the prices of two wines (because I paid for both of them), I enjoyed those wines in the same night with a great group of people, and my views on the wine did not match the results of the study. Here is one of the wines. Here is the other. And the second one was significantly better than the first, and significantly cheaper.

So what does this all mean? Simply, that one's expectations can influence one's perceptions. But, often the best way to appreciate or enjoy wine (or anything) is to let those expectations go and enjoy what is right in front of you. Abandon the view that a wine that costs $350 must be great. Abandon the expectation that a $5 wine must be terrible. Simply recognize the wine for what it is, and enjoy. If I have learned any lesson from my exploration of wine, it would be to recognize the value of the thing that is right in front of you.