See inside The Grand Cork Experiment

Take a look at what participants were subjected to in The Grand Cork Experiment, which launched in London last night.

The Grand Cork Experiment takes place over three days at 15 Bateman Street in Soho, London

As previously reported by the drinks business, The Portuguese Cork Association (APCOR) has worked with ‘sensory architects’ Bompas & Parr to transform a space in Soho to test whether the pop of a cork has a more positive impact on the wine tasting experience than the click of a screwcap.

As part of this installation, which runs from last night until tomorrow, various sensory experiences have been put in place to prepare visitors for the experiment, as well as promote the inherent qualities of cork.

Bompas & Parr have also used brain activity monitors to test how visitors’ senses are triggered by the rituals associated with wine drinking.

Over the following pages we take you through the experience, which takes place at 15 Bateman Street in Soho, from the very beginning to the finish at the bar…

Along with the sensory experiences and experiments on offer within the temporary installation is a cork workshop, where visitors can paint and play with cork.

They can also then see the sound a cork makes by placing it in the ‘pyramid synth’, which produces different noises depending on the colour and density of the material.

Visitors are also invited to partake in a ‘brain scan experiment’, which uses brain activity monitors to test how a person’s senses are triggered by the rituals associated with wine drinking. Pictured above is the Portuguese ambassador to Britain undergoing the test, and below, the results of the experiment for myself.

Visitors were asked to prepare themselves for the final test by taking part in various experiences covering all the human senses, starting with smell. Taking me through the stages was Jason from Bompass & Parr (pictured).

I was then asked to immerse my hands in a bowl filled with glass stones designed to “cleanse your sense of touch”.

Then Jason asked me to listen to white noise through headphones – a further step before the cork experiment that was put in place to “stimulate your sense of hearing”.

Next I had to prepared my sense of sight with an ‘eye massager’ – a device that contained vibrating pads that pressed against the skin around your eyes.

Finally, Jason told me to prepare my palate by drinking a mixture of malic acid and water.

And then it was time to take part in the experiment, which sees each visitor placed in a chair and given headphones, before being asked to rate four wines according to their quality, intensity and how much they invoked a feeling of celebration.

Importantly, the wines were served in pairs, and before each one was sampled, the taster was played either the sound of a cork popping, or a screwcap being twisted open.

And then it was time for a drink…