Colour Lab tests psychology of drinking wine

Professor of Experimental Psychology Charles Spence of Oxford University will be testing how lighting and sounds can affect how wine tastes next month in conjunction with Spanish wine producer Campo Viejo. It claims to be the biggest ever multi-sensory experiment into the psychology of drinking wine and will invite people attending the Streets of Spain festival on London's Southbank to step into a 'Colour Lab'.

It will test the theory that different light and sounds impact on a wine’s flavour by asking participants to rate wines drunk from a black glass while being exposed to different light and sounds.

Prof Spence believes the results could influence labelling in the future sparking new recommendations such as “drink while listening to classical music” or “best served after dark.”

He says “We’ve all been in that situation where you being a bottle of wine back from holiday and you excitedly open it with friends, only to find it doesn’t taste anything like you remember it did.

“Of course the wine is still the same. They only thing that has changed is your environment. So if you want to enjoy your holiday wine you need to recreate, as far as possible, the moment that you drank it.

“Maybe wait for a sunny afternoon, or drink on a warm summer’s night. Change the music so it recreates the ambience. It will all help recapture the flavour that you remember.”

He added that the current trend for neutral colour-schemes in homes could be causing wine to taste more bland. “If people love their wine, they should probably be thinking of injecting colour at every available opportunity.”

A previous study by Oxford University found that when experienced tasters were given champagne in black glasses they struggled to tell the difference between a cheap sparkling wine and an expensive bottle of Champagne.

The Campo Viejo Colour Lab opens on London’s Southbank on the 2 May and runs until the 5 May.