Blind Tests Beat Prestige Taste

Repeated blind tastings—starting with the 1976 Judgment of Paris and followed in 1978, 1986, and 2006—ranked California wines above France’s most vaunted labels despite experts’ expectations. This suggests much of 'expert' wine judgment is status and label‑driven, not reliably discriminative. Blinding is a practical design that can pierce gatekeeping in cultural domains. — It argues for broader use of blinded evaluation to curb prestige bias in culture, hiring, awards, and media criticism, challenging deference to credentialed tastemakers.