Contribution of cross-cultural studies to understanding wine appreciation: A review

Abstract

People from different cultures or geographical regions vary significantly in terms of their food and beverage consumption patterns, preferences, and purchase choices. Recent decades have seen cross-cultural research in food science flourish with research programmes in fields as diverse as perception science, conceptual behaviour, health sciences, and marketing. In this review, we describe cross-cultural research that has contributed to our understanding of wine appreciation. We begin by providing a brief historical perspective, and then outline the types of studies and methodologies employed in cross-cultural wine sensory research. We then review systematically cross-cultural studies concerning intrinsic wine factors, extrinsic wine factors, cerebral representation studies and those investigating attitudes and opinions about wine, and cross-cultural research addressing emotional response to wine. Finally, we bring together the major results reported from the varying methodologies to discuss how a cross-cultural approach can help advance our understanding of wine appreciation. We also raise contemporary issues relevant to traditional ways of defining and investigating culture in light of increasing globalisation. This review is relevant for wine industry marketing strategists as well as for those interested in the science of wine tasting.