Vino gives women joy, but men just wine about it
IT MAY be a sobering thought but women get more joy out of drinking wine than men do, a study shows.
Women reported “significantly higher” rates of happy and pleasant emotions after downing a few glasses than their male counterparts, researchers found.
They also preferred white and rose types of wine, which are said to evoke positive connotations.
On the other hand men mostly went for red wine, which is said to have negative associations.
They also felt more guilty about drinking and displayed more aggression than women, the study of 208 volunteers revealed.
Each volunteer was asked to take part in a blind tasting of six wines – two whites, one rose, and three reds – made from four varieties of grape.
All the wines were under five years old and had an alcoholic strength of around 13 per cent.
After sampling each type, the volunteers were asked about the quality of the drink and the feelings it evoked. The researchers, led by Dr Carolina Chaya of the Technical University of Madrid, found “a clear discrimination” between the sexes.
In a report the team said: “Women reported significantly higher scores for ‘joyful’ when consuming white wines and lower scores when consuming red wines.
“Emotions like good, happy, joyful, mild and pleasant were positively associated with attributes such as fruity and floral, and more negative emotions like aggressive and guilty were associated with attributes related to red wine.
“The women reported greater differences between wines and were able to discriminate among them.”
The team also found people in different age groups drank for varying reasons. They noted: “Young adults drink wine for reasons related to disinhibition and social status. Older people use it as a social catalyst, to evoke memories and traditions.”
The report, published in the journal Food Quality And Preference, added: “Young adults under 35 feel less guilty than middle-aged adults when consuming any of the wines.
“This could be linked to an increase in health concerns.”
Meanwhile, separate research shows Britons are becoming a nation of wine drinkers – but paying the price in related health issues.
Government figures reveal that one in 10 women admit to having had a drink on at least five days out of seven in the previous week.
One in five admit to exceeding the safe guideline of 14 units a week, equal to about a bottle and a half.
Over 30 million British adults now
regularly consume wine and twothirds say it is their favourite drink.
The Office for National Statistics says those earning £40,000 or over are among the worst for bingeing.
Women are also more in danger than men from drinking too much, with increased risk of liver disease and other health problems.
Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said: “The Al Murray view that it’s ‘a pint of lager for the men and a fruitbased drink for the ladies’ might still be funny, but it’s out of date.
“The reality is that both men and women in the UK are drinking less but are prepared to spend more on a bottle of wine. I believe they have increasingly sophisticated palates.”