Shape tasting: A comparative evaluation of crossmodal correspondence in wine tasting

Crossmodal correspondence is a robust, consistent and near-universal phenomenon in which one sensory experience is perceptually associated with another sensation of a different modality. Previous research has found that specific flavors have cross-culturally consistent pairings with specific colors and shapes. While these associations between flavors and visual features can significantly affect the enjoyment and quality of a culinary experience, it remains unclear how visuo-spatial associations might enhance the learning of flavor discriminations in pursuits such as wine tasting. This preliminary experiment evaluates perceptual learning using a novel "shape tasting" method developed by Patrick Reuter of Dominio IV Vineyards. Intermediate-level wine drinkers performed sensory discrimination tests of varying difficulties before and after three weeks of training. Participants were randomly assigned to either a control group or one of two experimental groups who were trained to associate flavors with linguistic notes or shape-tasting notes. The shape-tasting group demonstrated superior improvement from pre- to post-training compared to the other two groups for easy discrimination tests while for difficult tests, the control group performed the best, replicating the "verbal overshadowing" effect. Overall, these results suggest great promise for the shape tasting method, particularly during early stages of enological perceptual learning, and justify further systematic research into how visuospatial-flavor correspondence can be implemented in wine tasting and beyond.