Wine experts Emily Harman, Jamie Goode, and Doug Wregg talk about the very nature of perception itself, how we may be influenced (and deceived) by the colour of wine, how ambient sound and even our feelings at a given time can alter our sensitivity and receptivity towards a given wine.

They remark on the different approaches to (blind) tasting according to whether you’re a relative novice or a full-fledged wine professional. The trio explore the relative notions of subjective and objective assessment and ask whether it is right for appellation boards and judging panels to set a standard for taste “correctness” and how this might exclude a whole raft of interesting and unique non-conformist wines.

Doug blind tastes Emily and Jamie on two wines, the first being Renaud Boyer’s old vines Bourgogne-Aligoté (2022 vintage), a previously unfashionable grape variety that is gaining an excellent reputation amongst the wine-loving community. The second is not a wine at all, being Ripple, a natural cider from Egremont Russet apples by Little Pomona in Herefordshire. Our two intrepid tasters are not deceived, despite the “vinosity” of the product!