Cheap Wine?

15 April 2011 - Wine costing less than £5 a bottle can have the same effect on the palate as those priced up to six times as much, a psychological taste challenge suggests. The blind test at the Edinburgh Science Festival saw 578 members of the public correctly identify the "cheap" or "expensive" wines only 50% of the time. They tasted a range of red and white wines including merlot and chardonnay. University of Hertfordshire researchers say their findings indicate many people may just be paying for a label. Two champagnes costing £17.61 and £29.99 were compared, alongside the bottles costing less than £5 and vintages priced between £10 and £30. The other varieties tasted were shiraz, rioja, claret, pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc. The participants were asked to say which they thought were cheap and which were expensive. By the laws of chance, they should have been able to make a correct guess 50% of the time - and that was the exact level of accuracy seen. The findings demonstrate the volunteers cannot distinguish between wines by taste alone, the organisers of the test say.

Wine Auctions

18 June 2010 - Who would have thought that wine would become so popular in Hong Kong? It is reported that Hong Kong is likely to overtake the United States as the world's biggest wine auction center this year with sales of about USD 100 million. This comes two years after duty on wine was scrapped in the city and will help cement its position as a global player for wine auctions. Given the robust demand for fine wines in Asia - in particular the mainland - it is expected that Hong Kong will lead the global wine auction market for years to come. The world record for one day wine auctions stands at a revenue of USD 24.7 million at an auction in New York in 2006. The Hong Kong's record is held by Christie's with a daily income of HKD 40.3 million for a wine sale. Wow!

BYOB

9 June 2010 - I went into a restaurant in Holland and saw BYOB on the menu card. Surprise!!! An Australian friend said it is absolutely normal to see the BYOB in Australia (= Bring Your Own Bottle), where people bring their own red or white to the restaurant. Sometimes, if you are lucky, the chef will adjust his cooking to your wine, which sounds like a really good idea. One has to pay a small fee, because the restaurant will earn less, but still has to clean the glasses. The marketing gods have probably studied this concept and ruled that it is not profitable on the long term, but one wonders why it is possible in Australia and not elsewhere? So lets hope the Dutch initiative will fly and give a new meaning to the notion of going Dutch.