This Dialogues Between Neuroscience and Society lecture was recorded Nov. 15, 2025, at Neuroscience 2025 in San Diego.
Nicolas Quillé, MW, highly credentialed wine professional, presents his framework for understanding wine tasting in the style of Robert Greene's three phases of mastery. Quillé explains that wine tasting is a comprehensive neurological workout, engaging many brain regions through cross-modal integration of visual, olfactory, gustatory, and trigeminal inputs. The brain processes these inputs, making analytical judgments, articulating descriptive language, and forming emotional responses. John Morrison, PhD, the 2025 SfN president, Rachel Herz, PhD, and Christophe Bernard, PhD, are panelists in this session.
About the Contributor
Nicolas Quillé, Master of Wine, is the Chief Winegrowing and Operations Officer for the Crimson Wine Group, where he supervises the farming and winemaking of six estate wineries on the west coast of the United States, including Pine Ridge Winery in Napa Valley, Seghesio Family Vineyards in Sonoma Valley, Chamisal and Malene in San Luis Obispo, Archery Summit in Dundee Hills, Double Canyon in Eastern Washington and Seven Hills Winery in Walla Walla. He has more than 30 years of experience in the wine industry with an emphasis on viticulture, winemaking, quality control, wine business management, wine portfolio management, and mergers and acquisitions. He holds a Master degree in enology from the University of Dijon in Burgundy, a Master degree in sparkling winery management from the University of Reims in Champagne, an MBA from the University of Washington in Seattle, and is a member of the prestigious Institute of Masters of Wine. Nicolas speaks at wine conferences on a regular basis and was recognized in 2022 as an industry leader by Wine Business Monthly. He is also co-author of one of the most read winemaking books by wine education students, titled “Understanding Wine Technology, 4th edition.”