A friend's 2006 Gamay Noir was featured in the wine column of the local paper this weekend. I went to buy a bottle, and there were only 3 left! The distributor is out.

Good news for our friends!

Winery is Brick House, all organic. And yummy. A bit spendy for my wine budget, but I'm being supportive, right?

I'm enjoying a 2005 Newton Claret from Napa right now. I've had this blend before, and this one's a charmer.

Published online before print January 14, 2008
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073/pnas.0706929105

NEUROSCIENCE
Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness

Hilke Plassmann*, John O'Doherty*, Baba Shiv, and Antonio Rangel*,

*Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, MC 228-77, Pasadena, CA 91125; and Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, 518 Memorial Way, Littlefield L383, Stanford, CA94305

Edited by Leslie G. Ungerleider, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, and approved December 3, 2007 (received for review July 24, 2007)

Abstract

Despite the importance and pervasiveness of marketing, almost nothing is known about the neural mechanisms through which it affects decisions made by individuals. We propose that marketing actions, such as changes in the price of a product, can affect neural representations of experienced pleasantness. We tested this hypothesis by scanning human subjects using functional MRI while they tasted wines that, contrary to reality, they believed to be different and sold at different prices. Our results show that increasing the price of a wine increases subjective reports of flavor pleasantness as well as blood-oxygen-level-dependent activity in medial orbitofrontal cortex, an area that is widely thought to encode for experienced pleasantness during experiential tasks. The paper provides evidence for the ability of marketing actions to modulate neural correlates of experienced pleasantness and for the mechanisms through which the effect operates.


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Footnotes
Author contributions: H.P., J.O., B.S., and A.R. designed research; H.P. performed research; H.P. analyzed data; and H.P., J.O., B.S., and A.R. wrote the paper.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rangel@hss.caltech.edu

Sometimes, I just can't resist a promotion. When out shopping to restock the wine cellar recently I came upon a display of a new line of wines from the Pacific Northwest's largest winery, Columbia Crest, that appeared to be an upmarket departure from their usual budget priced, marginally drinkable wines. Knowing that many large winemakers have successfully branched into more boutique type wines piqued my curiosity, as I would generally steer clear of Columbia Crest's typical offerings. So, I picked up a bottle of their Two Vines Vineyard 10 Red, a 2006 vintage blend of Syrah, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Barbera, Mourvèdre and Dolcetto.

The wine was opened and allowed to breathe for some time before serving. Even so, the nose was still very closed, with hints of honey and red cherry being the only thing noticeable other than the alcohol. Considering some of the grape varieties from which the blend is made, the medium red color was a little unusual, although if Sangiovese and Dolcetto predominated (I don't know what the proportions are in the blend), then the color may not be so strange. When swirled in the glass, the wine had very pronounced legs and the marked surface tension at the edges indicated what might be higher-than-I'd-like levels of residual sugar.

Finally, into the mouth and onto the tongue, where it all came together. Or, perhaps, fell apart, depending on one's perspective. The first and most pronounced taste was butter -- the sign of rampant malolactic fermentation. Whether this was the winemaker's intention, or if I got a bottle where the process had run amok is a matter of debate. I found that hard to get beyond, but forged ahead anyway. There were a few somewhat floral notes, violets in particular, along with red cherry, a dash of honey and even a touch of gooseberry. But these faded quicky, leaving a rather cloying, glycerine finish. The tannins, if indeed there were any at all, were so muted as to be softer than the "soft" tannins of, say, a Merlot. The wine was very full and rounded in the mouth, mostly as a result of a high proportion of lactic acid.

Through it all, the diacetyl, buttered popcorn taste overwhelmed what might have otherwise been a lightly fruity, slightly sweet wine. The winemakers went way overboard with the malolactic fermentation in my opinion. I am always a bit suspicious of wines processed in this manner, as I get the distinct impression that the winemakers are trying to compensate for underripe fruit. The cooler climate of the Columbia River valley (compared to other wine-growing regions) may have prevented some of these red varieties from reaching proper maturation before vinification, although there have been other winemakers in the same region, Owen Roe comes to mind among others, that produce absolutely incredible reds from many of the same varieties.

Thus, I'd have to say that this is a wine I would have to forego purchasing again. Certainly there are some who don't mind that buttery taste, but when overdone, as I think it is here, it's so overpowering as to destroy whatever virtues the wine might have had.

Matt, I'm impressed by all the nuances you get from a wine. I suppose I would get more of them myself if I just paid attention.

I'm branching out a bit, too. I still buy half and full cases of my cheapo (but goodo) Portuguese and Spanish wines -- we po' musicians have to watch our pennies -- but always purchase 2-3 bottles of something nicer, in the $15 - $20 range. A Las Rocas garnacha was the most recent (2006) and I'm going to try to learn more about true Burgundies (pinot noir).

I have a couple of expensive Oregon pinots (bought during an Oregon vacation last summer) that I'm looking forward to trying when the proper occasion presents itself. One cost about $30, the other $60.

BTW, my Schott Zwiesel Tritan pinot glasses are terrific. I have even been using them for dense California zins, and they allow more fruit to emerge and sublimate the often cloying tannins. (I know wine hounds are very specific about their glassware, but this trick seems to work for me.)