Taste? Or just keeping up with the Jones...

Just read a great article (www.physorg.com/news119531708.html) about how drinking pleasure is influenced by the cost of your glass of plonk - neuroeconomics at its best!
Now, everyone has encountered the restaurant mark-up -- a bottle of wine in a restaurant will cost you at least a third more than it would from a bottle shop: the price for ambience, a friendly sommelier and glassware usage, shall we say.
A price that actually does make us value, and even enjoy, the bottle more as it turns out, according to a recent study from Antonio Rangel of CalTech (pictured)...Rangel looked at the brains of 20 individuals using functional magnetic resonance imaging as they imbibed what they were told were five different samples of Cabernet Sauvignon, priced at £2.50, £5.00, £17.50, £22.50, and £45. The drinkers consistently reported preferring the £45 bottle to the £5 and the £22.50 bottle to the £17.50; indeed, for many of them their medial orbital frontal cortex, which is active when people experience pleasure, showed correlating activity with the tasting of the preferred, more expensive bottles.

There were further twists incorporated into the experiment, though - the "five" samples were actually only three: the £5.00 wine was actually the £45 wine, and the £22.50 sample also came from the same bottle as the £17.50 sample. The £45 wine was adored by all, the £5.00 not so much...and when the subjects were given all 5 samples without prices provided, the £2.50 sample was actually the overall favorite.

So basically, although the sample size was rather small, the conclusion one might take from this experiment would be that most people are better off with Parker points, and their concomitant pricing scales - if you think something is valuable, then you will be more likely to gain pleasure from it...and price helps us to appreciate our experiences more.

However, this maenad would beg to differ...PLEASE dear readers, drink enough wine so that you know what YOU like, what YOU value -- so that no matter what Parker points or price are attributed to your alcoholic grape indulgence, YOU know what you're appreciating. Independent indulgence is the only way...

Raclette Inspired

So I must link in to http://thepinkspoon.typepad.com/the_pink_spoon/2008/05/raclette.html for references on the culinary goodness of the Raclette Experience...Raclette cheese is a de novo in and of itself, something like gruyere and emmenthal, except with a hint of smoke and spice and, dare I say, French "barnyard" experience - and it goes PERFECTLY with pinot noir.

Yes, Pinot Noir, a red grape. Sit back and hold your breaths in, as I am indeed about to prove my Raving Maenad heathen origins...There could be no better match for such a gorgeous meal - you could pair with the traditional high acid Riesling or Gewuerz, and you could even do a Sauvignon Blanc (either Bordeaux White or New Zealand passionfruit), but optimally you will be pairing your melted goodness with a red that sustains, endures and more thoroughly supplements such high fat ingestion with not only a high acid cut but also some lovely soft yet substantial tannins to lift this edgy cheese to a new level.

Burgundy does give the perfect cultural compliment, given the origins of raclette, as apparently a French-Swiss peasant farmer set his luncheon cheese down on a hot rock one day while out watching sheep, it melted, and he discovered the goodness of the melt on potatoes and veg; he then proceeded to spread the word throughout his valley and, well, the point tipped...That said, I can also highly recommend the New World for edgy Pinots to compliment such kaese-tater combos - New Zealand, Sonoma, Washington and Oregon all do lovely colder climate Pinots to further inspire cheese indulgence.

But the absolute best thing about such a pairing? That you can just open another bottle and yet again perfectly pair with a brilliant chocolate dessert...triple choc brownies were the call of that evening, but am absolutely convinced that further deep chocolate desires could not be matched with anything other - um, Lindt dark choc truffles anyone?