Designing Wine Tasting Experiences for All: The role of Human Diversity and Personal food memory
Xinyang Shan, Yuanyuan Xu, Yuqing Wang, Tian Xia, Yinshan Lin
TL;DR
The paper addresses the problem of Western-centric wine tasting excluding Chinese consumers by conducting 11 months of cross-regional field studies (Xinjiang, Shandong, Tuscany) across three tasting formats and guiding analysis with the ANA framework. It finds significant misalignment between Western terminology and Chinese perceptions, with 76% struggling to understand terms and 83% preferring food-related descriptors, while 68% benefit from personal food memories and informal, social tasting settings. The main contributions include practical design guidelines for culturally adaptive tasting experiences, such as bilingual, locally framed terminology and flavor wheels based on Chinese cuisine, plus emphasis on storytelling and group interaction to enhance authenticity. The study demonstrates potential for more inclusive, engaging wine tourism in China, offering a framework to support sustainable wine business practices through cross-cultural engagement and memory-based sensory tools.
Abstract
This study investigates the design of inclusive wine-tasting experiences by examining the roles of human diversity and personal food memory. Through field studies conducted in various wine regions, we explored how Chinese visitors engage with wine-tasting activities during winery tours, highlighting the cross-cultural challenges they face. Our findings underscore the importance of experiencers' abilities, necessities, and aspirations (ANAs), the authenticity of wine tasting within the context of winery tours, and the use of personal food memories as a wine-tasting tool accessible to all. These insights lay the groundwork for developing more inclusive and engaging wine-tasting services, offering new perspectives for cultural exchange and sustainable wine business practices in China.