Smell training increases cognitive smell skills of wine tasters compared to the general healthy population. The WINECAT Study

Abstract

Background: Wine experts show higher accuracy than novices in selecting a wine that matches a sample. Only one study has compared wine experts with non-trained healthy controls on smell. The aim of this study was to compare the smell characteristics, both sensorial and cognitive, of wine tasters with Spanish healthy population using the Barcelona Smell Test-24. Methods: Wine tasters were tested for smell and compared with a control group of healthy volunteers, by tasting 20 odours and scoring smell detection, identification, intensity, irritability, freshness, pleasure and forced choice. Results: Wine tasters performed significantly better on identification and forced choice than healthy controls. In addition, wine tasters perceived more odours as intense, but fewer as irritating than controls. Conclusions: Probably linked to smell education, wine tasters show better cognitive but not sensorial smell skills than a non-trained healthy population.