Wine aficionados say that drinking wine involves far more than a simple evaluation of taste.

Aroma, temperature and a lovely bottle can all factor into our experience of, say, a Bordeaux. But, what if outside factors like a wine’s color, or even the lighting in the room we drink it in, can actually change how we perceive the flavor?

David Munksgard, a winemaker at Iron Horse Vineyards in Sonoma, California, says he uses a bit of red wine in some of his sparkling blends to hint at what the bubbly might taste like — before patrons ever take a sip.

“It sets the stage,” Munksgard says. “If [the wine] was in a dark glass and you couldn’t see, your brain wouldn’t be working on that. You would just simply go on what it smells like and then what it tastes like. But you can’t help it as a human being to start thinking about what that wine is going to smell and then taste like.”