Published:14 March 2013

Revolutionary new tool is hottest tip for taste confidence

As a nation we spend over £6 billion* each year on wine, however just one in four of us are confident we will enjoy the liquid inside the bottle we buy.  A study released today reveals only 26% of wine drinkers have faith in their wine purchasing decisions, which means a potential £4.7 billion 'risky' purchases every single year.

In the 2,000-strong survey for the Morrisons Cellar Taste Test, women were the least confident (64%) in their wine purchasing decisions, while men weren’t far behind, with 54% feeling unsure about what they were putting in their wine racks.

The findings show we know what flavours we like, but we’re not applying this common sense to buying wine because the category mystifies us.  Recognising the uncertainty of wine shoppers, Morrisons has launched a unique Taste Test tool asking three simple, non-wine related questions: how you take your coffee, if salt is added to your food and your preference for full-fat or no-added sugar in fizzy drinks. 

The poll has unearthed some surprising results and the Taste Test takes the guesswork out of buying wine. 

The Taste Test produces four distinct flavour categories, broken down into 13 flavour profile numbers: ‘sweet’ (0-3), ‘fresh’ (4-6), ‘smooth’ (7-9) or ‘intense’ (10-12).  Once shoppers are armed with their profile number they can confidently and easily find the wine they are most likely to enjoy from over 1,000 wines on offer at morrisonscellar.com.

Fresh is best and we’re not intense

The data gathered since the launch of the Taste Test in October 2012 shows a whopping 37% of the UK has a ‘fresh’ palate, so a crisp Sauvignon Blanc or a light Pinot Noir will hit the spot.  ‘Smooth’ operators are hot on the heels of ‘fresh’ drinkers with 32% of us preferring slightly full-bodied wines like a silky Merlot.   ‘Sweet’ flavours are enjoyed by 20% of wine lovers who can now confidently reach for a fruity drop like a honeyed Moscatel.  A mere 8% came out favouring the ‘intense’ flavours of rich, bold wines such as Shiraz. 

Men are sweet and women are smooth adventurers

They might put up a ‘hard as nails’ front, but it turns out men (23%) are more likely to be ‘sweeter’ than women (20%) when it comes to wine preference.  Women, though, are the ‘smoothest’ sex – one in three women has a penchant for a full-bodied Merlot or Bordeaux and, according to the research, women are the keenest to try new flavours.

The great taste divide

Men might be generally ‘sweeter’ than women, but head to the North West of the country and you’ll find the highest concentration of ‘sweet’ palates across both sexes (26%), while almost half of the Scots surveyed (44%) came out as having ‘fresh’ taste profiles.   The Welsh are by far and away the ‘smoothest’ wine drinkers of us all, with 39% preferring a drop like a buttery Chardonnay.  Despite a general lack of intensity around the nation, the highest number of ‘intense’ palates resides in the South East (15%). 

On the tip of the tongue

It isn’t just our gender or where we live which affects our taste preferences, but also our actual taste buds.  Wine buyer for Morrisons Cellar, Trish Scurfield, says: “We’re each born with somewhere between 500 and 10,000 taste buds, and the more you have, the more likely you are to prefer sweet flavours over bitter.  Think about what foods you like and this will help steer your taste for wines.…#157;

After taking the Taste Test, over 71% of survey respondents said they would feel more confident about buying wine and over half were introduced to new wines they had never tried before. 

Launch of free Taste Test Facebook app

Also launching today is Morrisons Cellar’s free Taste Test Facebook app which allows users to take the Taste Test and share their profiles with Facebook friends.  You can also access the app by entering the following link into your mobile phone browser:

http://apps2.finervision.com/morrisons/taste-test

 *Source: Nielsen data from WSTA Q4 Market Report, 2012. Total wine sales in the UK in 2012 were £6.35 billion.

The Taste Test survey was conducted by OnePoll.  The respondents comprised 2,000 UK-based, adult consumers who drink wine.  Results were broken down by gender, geographical area and age.

 ENDS

Please contact Hannah Taylor, Shelley Maddock, Preeya Varsani or Fran Bailey at Focus PR for all media enquiries.

Email: morrisonscellar@focuspr.co.uk  Phone: +44 (0)20 3117 1800

Notes to editor:

Taste Test:

Morrisons purchased the exclusive rights to the Taste Test technology (developed by Bibendum) within the grocery sector for a year.  Since purchase, Morrisons has worked closely with Bibendum to develop this mechanic for both online and in-store use to offer an exceptional customer experience.

A clever, interactive test to help guide consumers through the mystery of wine, the Taste Test is based on a scientific principle relating to the number of taste buds any one person possesses. Consumers will be asked three simple, non-wine related questions, the answers to which  are then converted by a complex algorithm and a piece of clever technology to reveal a score and flavour profile. The four profiles are sweet (0-3), fresh (4-6), smooth (7-9), intense (10-12).

The entire range of Morrisons wines has been tasted by a six-strong team with calibrated palates and awarded a score against agreed criteria to enable it to fit within one of the four profiles. Red, white, sparkling and fortified have all been judged using the same scale so if a customer is a score 4 it is expected that wines within the fresh category of all colours will appeal to them.

http://www.morrisonscellar.com/shop/taste-test

Taste Test Survey

The survey was conducted by OnePoll, who are members of ESOMAR and employ members of the MRS. The respondents comprised 2,000 UK-based, adult consumers who drink wine. Results were able to be broken down into gender, geographical area and age.

Facebook app: The Facebook app will be live from 8am Thursday 14 March 2013