Thirteen years ago, I participated in a really interesting wine experiment. Vacationing in Napa, Calif., we made an appointment for a tasting at Swanson Vineyards in Rutherford. My wife and I had previously enjoyed several of Swanson’s wines and didn’t want to miss the chance to see the winery in person.
Pulling up to the estate’s gated lot, we knew we were in for something special when, before we even got out of the car, a hostess was coming our way carrying a tray with two glasses of Swanson’s Sauvignon Blanc for us. Talk about a pleasant, impressive greeting, this was it.
Not surprisingly, all the wines were excellent. The accompanying many small plates were also terrific. (My first caviar with a dollop of crème fresh, on a potato chip. Just one, single, memorable chip.)
Closing the tasting, our hosts brought out a fresh glass for everyone. But these glasses already had wine in them. And they were black. Black? Why a black glass? Was it an aesthetic statement about elegance? It was indeed elegant, but that wasn’t the point. It turns out, when you look at a wine within a black glass, you can’t tell if it’s red, white, or rosé. Really.
We were told the wine in our glass was one of the eight we had just tasted. So we went back and forth around our table with the four other guests present, and the six of us debated for five minutes about what we were drinking.
They tricked us. While it was one of the wines we had just tried, everyone had a different wine in their glass! It was a fun surprise we all enjoyed. But the real lesson is how powerful our eyes influence us. It reminded me of hearing people say things like, “I only drink reds,” or, “Reds give me a headache, I only drink whites.” In fact, most of the guests at the tasting not only couldn’t guess what wine they were drinking, they also got the color wrong.
It was a truly memorable tasting. We bought a set of their black glasses and still have them today.
Ernest Valtri, of Buckingham, is a sculptor, painter, graphic designer, and a former member of the PLCB’s Wine Advisory Council. Please contact Erno at ObjectDesign@verizon.net.
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