Tell us how you taste wine, and we will tell you what kind of expert you are !

International audienceWhether “gurus”, “emperor” or “influencers”, wine consumers need references to help them choosing and buying wines. Given the diversity of possible sources (reviews from wine guides, wine merchants'recommendations or back wine label), where should they turn? Are all wine experts consensual in the way they taste wines? Do they differ depending on their domain of expertise: wine makers, sellers, or critics? This study aimed at understanding how experts apprehend wine tasting in relation to their professional objectives. A mixed design strategy combining content analysis of personal narratives of renowned wine experts with semi-structured interviews of wine professionals was used. Results confirmed that wine experts shared a common way of tasting wines, although their objectives and the way they report their wine tasting experiences differ according to their professional activities. Makers transcribe their perceptions by a list of sensory and technical-based terms focused on the absence or presence of wine defects to assess technical acceptability, Sellers are storytellers generating appeal and pleasure for consumers, and Critics write positive and metaphoric reviews to better highlight the best samples they taste. This raises new questions for the industry about the way in which wines are tasted, a routine practice that is internationally followed by wine professionals, but which may need to be renewed. Combining different data sources appeared to be a promising way to gain in-depth information in exploratory research