Not all wine experts created equal: Study finds stark differences in B.C., Quebec

OTTAWA -- A new study suggests it's the origins of the wine expert -- not just the wine -- that can impact perceptions of wine quality.

Researchers at Concordia University say they noted striking differences when they examined the opinions of wine experts from British Columbia's Okanagan Valley and those from Montreal.

The two teams tasted seven bottles of red wine in two 60-minute blind tasting sessions. Each group detected a stronger berry aroma in completely different wines.

Marketing professor Bianca Grohmann says the Okanagan panel gave higher scores when they detected more spicy aromas, while the Montreal panel favoured a wine's balance.

She traces the differences to training, noting that B.C. wine professionals lean toward the U.K. education model while Quebec experts follow the tradition of French sommeliers.

Despite the differences, both panels agreed on an Australian shiraz they deemed the best quality. The study, co-authored by Camilo Pena and Annamma Joy from the Faculty of Management at the University of British Columbia, was published recently in The Journal of Wine Research.

The wines tested were reds from all over the world, including merlot, pinot noir, shiraz, and four red blends. Experts evaluated each label on seven aroma attributes and nine flavour attributes.

Researchers found tasters rated specific attributes differently, and weighted them differently in their overall evaluation.

The Montrealers were also more forgiving of "off-flavours," in which a wine might have a bit of an off-taste but was not bad quality.

"This really comes back to training and a lot of the background/experience," Grohmann said Tuesday.

"We do not really think this is a cultural factor at the personal level or where the person comes from, it's really more contextual factors."

Grohmann suggested consumers consider the source of wine ratings and incorporate that into their own frame of reference.

"Consumers have a lot of information they can draw on but they have to know what they're looking for in order to get the best information for their situation."