People with higher IQ scores tend to know more about wine, study finds

A new study published in the journal Intelligence & Cognitive Abilities found that individuals with higher general intelligence, or IQ, tend to possess more specialized knowledge about wine, even if they have no professional involvement in the wine industry. Researchers Maximilian Krolo and Timothy C. Bates aimed to determine if the relationship between IQ and specialized knowledge extends beyond traditional academic and financial rewards.

Wine was chosen as a test case due to its unique properties and the fact that it lacks the typical pressures found in academic or work environments. The study recruited 525 participants and measured their general intelligence using three parts of the International Cognitive Ability Resource, which resulted in an average IQ score of 100 with a standard deviation of 15.

Participants also completed a 68-question wine knowledge test, with an average score of 24.5 correct answers. The researchers found that higher IQ scores consistently predicted higher wine knowledge scores, accounting for approximately 9.4% of the differences among participants. This relationship remained stable even when accounting for whether participants worked in the wine industry or regularly drank wine.