The more you know about wine, the higher you may also score on tests assessing general intelligence, according to a new study.
Researchers at Saarland University in Germany found that adults who scored higher on a standardized measure of cognitive ability also tended to perform better on a test of wine knowledge. Wine was the only specialized subject researchers tested in the study.
The findings were published in August in the journal Intelligence & Cognitive Abilities.
But the researchers' main goal wasn't to study wine itself. They wanted to know whether intelligence affects how well people learn about subjects they aren't required to study.
What did the study find?
The study included 525 adults recruited through the online research platform Prolific. Participants first completed a standardized cognitive ability assessment, answering 68 multiple-choice questions based on material from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 2 Award in Wines, a beginner-to-intermediate certification course "exploring wines, suitable for industry professionals and wine enthusiasts."
The questions covered several topics, including grape varieties, winemaking, wine regions, sparkling and fortified wines, and wine storage and service.
People who scored higher on the cognitive ability test also tended to score higher on the wine knowledge test. Intelligence alone explained about 9% of the differences in participants' wine knowledge scores.
But intelligence wasn't the only factor.
