WAC 2022 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 WAC 9 WAC 2022 9 2 - WAC - Oral presentations 9 How do we describe wine imagery? Expertise shapes language usage and multimodal imagery for wine

How do we describe wine imagery? Expertise shapes language usage and multimodal imagery for wine

Abstract

The acquisition of wine expertise is a multi-faceted and multisensory process with implications for sensory perception, attention, memory, and language production. With the prevalence of the predictive model of brain functioning, one area of burgeoning research interest involves wine mental imagery, since the brain relies on imagined experiences to build predictions for the future. Recent evidence has shown that, for instance, those with higher imagery vividness are more susceptible to wine advertising. However, little is known about the association between mental imagery and other associated cognitive processes, such as the ability to produce words that describe such imagery. 

To answer this question, we compared the performance of 49 wine experts (WSET Diploma level or equivalent) with a control group of 82 novices. All participants completed the newly validated Vividness of Wine Imagery Questionnaire, where they rated perceived vividness of imagery in four different sensory modalities (vision, smell, taste, mouthfeel) over six different tasting scenarios. In addition to rating imagery vividness, they also wrote descriptions of their imagined experiences for each scenario and modality. 

Our results showed that experts and novices differed in both wine imagery vividness and in their use of language to describe imagined wine tasting experiences. First, wine experts experienced more vivid imagery compared to novices in all sensory modalities (smell, taste, mouthfeel) except for vision, where novices experienced a similar level of vividness as experts. Moreover, experts used more words and more source terms to describe their imagery experiences compared to novices. Linguistic analysis revealed that, when describing imagined aromas, experts used words that have a higher level of concreteness, are more strongly associated with olfaction, and are more specific in their description of odours. Finally, we found a positive relationship between imagery vividness and the length of description across all modalities. 

The present study indicates that the acquisition of wine expertise involves changes in both language usage and vividness of olfactory imagery. However, future investigation is needed to elucidate the causal relationship between vocabulary development and imagery specificity.

DOI:

Publication date: June 13, 2022

Issue: WAC 2022

Type: Article

Authors

Qian Janice, Ilja, CROIJMANS, Robert, PELLEGRINO

Presenting author

Qian Janice, WANG – Aarhus University, Denmark

Utrecht University, Netherlands | Monell Chemical Senses Center, USA

Contact the author

Keywords

mental imagery; wine expertise; natural language processing; multisensory perception; cognition

Tags

IVES Conference Series | WAC 2022

Citation

Related articles…

Using climate services to project grapevine varietal adequation under climate change – application to cv. Tempranillo in the Douro wine region

Vine growth circumstances are becoming warmer and drier because of climate change. Higher temperatures advance ripening to a point in the season less conducive to the production of fine wine, while drought reduces yields (Van Leeuwen et al., 2019). Several wine-producing regions around the world have already recognized threats to their viticultural viability (Santos et al., 2020). An economical and cost-effective strategy for adaptation is the employment of late-ripening, drought-resistant plant material (varieties, clones, and rootstocks).

Study of the fruity aroma of red wines through perceptual interactions among volatile compounds in the context of climate change for the Bordeaux vineyard

The fruity aroma of red wines is described by a wide range of descriptors, ranging from fresh fruits to ripe and jammy fruits, to candied fruits and prunes notes [1]. The fruity quality of a red wine is characterized by notes of fresh and jammy red- and black-berry fruits.

Intravarietal diversity: an opportunity for climate change adaptation

Merlot grapevine is the second wine cultivar most planted in the world and especially in the Bordeaux wine region. This cultivar has many advantages in producing high quality wine; however, in the last decade, climate change has increased the sugar concentration in berries at harvest and shortened the maturation cycle. If this has been up to now a great opportunity to improve wine quality profile, we are touching the tipping point. High sugar concentration at harvest induces high alcool content in wine which can negatively impact wine quality. There are many viticultural and oenological practices possible to limit this effect. In this study we focus on plant material through intra-varietal diversity of Merlot cultivar.

Local ancient grapevine cultivars to face future viticulture

Among the different strategies to cope with the negative impacts of climate change on viticulture, the exploitation of genetic diversity is one of the most promising to adapt to new conditions and maintain wine production and quality. One of the biggest concerns in the context of climate change is to improve water use efficiency (WUE). In this way, the use of genotypes that present a better response to drought and high WUE is a key issue. In this work, physiological performance analysis was conducted to compare the water deficit stress (WDS) responses of local and widespread grapevines cultivars. Leaf gas exchange, water use efficiency (WUE) at different levels (leaf and long-term WUE (∆13C)), leaf osmotic adjustment and other water relations parameters were determined in plants under well-watered and WDS conditions alongside assessment of the levels of foliar hormones concentrations. Results denote that local cultivars displayed better physiological performance under WDS as compared to the widely-distributed ones. he results corroborate the hypothesis that better stomatal control allows increasing leaf WUE under drought as occurred in the local Callet cv.; but the minority local cultivar Escursac cv. showed high WUE under both treatments. In this case, high WUE can be related to maintaining higher photosynthetic activity under drought. The different mechanisms underlying the better performance under WDS and high WUE of minority local cultivars are discussed.

Spatial characterisation of terrain units in the Bottelaryberg-Simonsberg-Helderberg wine growing area (South Africa)

The first South African wine was made by Jan van Riebeeck on the second of February 1659. His initial determination to produce wine at the Cape refreshment station was continued by other governors