What knowledge of this drink may reveal about your intelligence - USA Today

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.

They chose wine as a test case because detailed wine knowledge generally isn't taught in school or required for most jobs. The researchers found that intelligence was linked to wine knowledge even after accounting for participants' wine-industry experience and drinking preferences.

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.

People with professional experience in the wine industry generally knew more about wine. The relationship between intelligence and wine knowledge was also stronger among people with greater professional exposure to the industry.

The researchers found that people who primarily drank wine also tended to have more wine knowledge. But drinking wine did not strengthen the relationship between intelligence and wine knowledge in the same way professional experience did.

The study found that professional experience with wine was associated with greater wine knowledge. The link between cognitive ability and wine knowledge was also stronger among people with more professional experience in the wine industry.

The researchers said working with wine can provide repeated exposure, feedback and incentives to learn more about the subject.

"Cognitive ability and structured experience do more than contribute independently; they reinforce one another," researcher Maximilian Krolo told Food & Wine Magazine.

The study does not show that drinking wine makes people smarter, or that knowing more about wine means individuals have a higher intelligence.

The researchers also cautioned that their study cannot establish that intelligence causes people to develop greater wine knowledge. The study was conducted at one point in time, and the wine test was adapted from WSET Level 2 materials rather than the official certification exam.

The test also measured factual wine knowledge and did not include a tasting component.

Still, the researchers said the findings support the idea that general intelligence can play a role in acquiring specialized knowledge, even outside traditional educational or workplace settings.

They suggested future research could examine whether similar patterns appear in other specialized subjects, including hobbies such as classical music or birdwatching.

Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@usatodayco.com or on X @athompsonUSAT