AI Study Finds Wine Preferences Reflect Key Personality Traits

A recent study has found that the type of wine a person prefers may reveal key aspects of their personality. The research, published in the Journal of Personality, used artificial intelligence to analyze nearly 10,000 online wine reviews and discovered that certain personality traits can predict whether someone is more likely to choose a high-alcohol or low-alcohol wine.

The study was led by Xi Wang at the School of Culture and Creativity at Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University. Wang and her team wanted to understand if psychological traits, rather than just demographics or price sensitivity, influence wine choices—specifically, the alcohol content people prefer. Alcohol by Volume (ABV) is a central characteristic in wine, affecting not only intoxication but also the body and flavor intensity of the drink.

To investigate this link, researchers collected 9,917 reviews from a major online wine retailer. These reviews spanned almost ten years and included both the text written by consumers and technical details about each wine, such as its ABV. The challenge was to translate these written reviews into personality profiles. For this, the team used Natural Language Processing (NLP), specifically a model called BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers), which is designed to interpret human language in context.

Before applying the AI to wine reviews, the researchers trained it using data from the “myPersonality” project—a large set of social media posts linked to verified personality scores. This allowed the AI to learn how different personality types express themselves in writing. The model then read each wine review and assigned scores for the five main personality traits known as the Big Five: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

The researchers then used statistical analysis to look for patterns between these inferred personality scores and the alcohol content of wines reviewed by each consumer. They controlled for other factors like price and wine style to isolate the effect of personality.

The results showed clear links between certain traits and alcohol preference. People who scored high in openness—a trait associated with curiosity and a desire for new experiences—tended to prefer wines with higher ABV. These wines often have a richer texture and more complex flavors, which may appeal to those seeking novelty and stimulation.

Agreeable individuals also showed a preference for higher-alcohol wines. The researchers suggest that this may be driven by social motivations. High-ABV wines are often seen as more prestigious or higher quality, so agreeable people may choose them to fit in with group norms or gain approval in social settings.

Surprisingly, extraverts—who are typically sociable and energetic—were more likely to choose lower-alcohol wines. The authors propose that extraverts may want to extend their time socializing without becoming overly intoxicated, so they opt for lighter wines that allow them to drink more over a longer period.

Neuroticism was also linked to lower-alcohol preferences. People high in this trait tend to be more sensitive to stress and negative emotions. Stronger alcohol can increase feelings of losing control or anxiety, so these individuals may choose lighter wines as a way to avoid those risks.

Conscientiousness did not show any significant connection with alcohol preference. The researchers believe this could be because conscientious people are both health-conscious (which might lead them toward lower-alcohol options) and quality-oriented (which could push them toward higher-alcohol wines). These opposing motivations may cancel each other out.

The study does have some limitations. It only included people who write online reviews, who may not represent all wine drinkers. Also, the AI inferred personality traits from writing style rather than direct psychological testing, so there is some margin for error.

The authors suggest that future research could look at whether similar patterns exist for other beverages like coffee or beer, or how cultural differences might affect these relationships. The study focused on Western consumers; attitudes toward alcohol and personality expression can vary widely around the world.

The research was conducted by Xi Wang, Jie Zheng, and Yiqi Wang. Their findings offer new insight into how our personalities shape even small decisions like what kind of wine we pour into our glass.