With wine, I’m solidly in the camp of “You like what you like, so you should drink what you like. There are no wrong answers.” But I have always wondered, WHY do people’s wine preferences differ so drastically?

I did a little research, and stumbled upon a Wine Enthusiast article by Brooke Borel featuring wine journalist and author Jamie Goode and Tim Hanni, MW. They had a debate about how influential genetics are on wine likes & dislikes.

Hanni hypothesized that we’re programmed to like and dislike certain flavors. Goode agreed, but added that it was more complicated than that. It’s more a mix of genetics and acquired taste.

The article goes on to discuss “supertasters,” or people who are genetically more sensitive when it comes to taste. They can taste certain bitter flavors in foods that others can’t detect at all. These supertasters often do not like cruciferous vegetables, black coffee, dark chocolate, hot peppers, and alcohol.

As this translates to wine, supertasters are thought to prefer sweeter wines over dry wines with higher acid, higher tannins, and more layered flavors.

However, it’s so much more complicated than that. If you have the genetic makeup of a supertaster, it increases the odds that you’ll prefer sweet wine, but because of genes, upbringing, surroundings, and more, you can absolutely have other preferences.

Gary Pickering, professor of biological sciences and psychology/wine science at Brock University, says that an important factor in the variation of wine preferences may be what sensory scientists call “wine adventurous.” Being wine adventurous could help supertasters move past an initial resistance to a specific flavor, and even start to like it.

All in all, a mixture of nature and nurture – or genetics and an adventurous spirit – lead us to liking the wines we do. And as I said before, there is no wrong answer!

Cheers!