Wine is better when you hear the cork pop

WHETHER it is New Year’s Eve or a quiet night in, the popping of a cork is bound to make us feel good. Now it seems the sound of the bottle being opened makes the wine taste better, too.

In a study, drinkers rated wines with a cork 15 per cent higher in quality than those from screw-top bottles.

Oxford University scientists gave 140 participants glasses of near-identical Argentinian reds. The tasters were played a recording of a cork popping or a screw top opening and told to sample the wines. They were then given bottles to open and try, without being told these were the same wines as earlier.

Professor Charles Spence of Oxford University’s Crossmodal Research Laboratory, who led the study, commissioned by the Portuguese Cork Association, said: ‘Our senses are intrinsically linked. What we hear, see and feel has a huge effect on what we taste. The sound and sight of a cork being popped sets our expectations before the wine has even touched our lips. These expectations anchor our subsequent tasting experience.’

Experts warn that up to 5 per cent of wines with a cork can be tainted by a musty or mildewy smell, although the method is still used on around 70 per cent of bottles.