Trust your palate not server when ordering wine

Confused between Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling? Well, ordering a decent wine along with your food might be a tricky affair. But rather than getting confused by what the servers at the restaurant suggest, people should themselves take charge of their favourite drink, suggests a new research.

The research focused on the consumer-friendly approach whereby the wine drinkers should learn to trust their own palate and not necessarily depend on the so-called experts.

Yet in times of need, servers and sommeliers should also consider the preferences of some people as they generally fit into some particular wine-drinking categories, also known as 'vinotypes'.

"The palate rules -- not someone else's idea of which wine we should drink with our food," said Carl Borchgrevink, Associate Professor at the University of Michigan in the US.

"They shouldn't try to intimidate you into buying a certain wine. Instead, they should be asking you what you like."

The researchers surveyed a group of adults on food and beverage preferences and consumption patterns. They also held a reception in 12 stations, where the participants rated the food and wine presented at each station individually, and then together.

The study, published in the International Journal of Wine Business Research, found that it was easier to predict wine preferences based on consumption patterns and preferences of the people.

The findings have implications for both restaurants and wine stores, which should train their staff members on the vinotype approach and find questions to ask consumers that can reveal their wine preferences at the same time.

"At the end of the day it's going to be the consumer that has the final say. They are going to be the arbiter," noted Allan Sherwin, another researcher of the study.

--IANS

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