I was sitting in a peaceful room a couple weeks ago, old paintings on the walls, high ceilings, a view of the Alps outside. I was blind tasting Merlot wine as one of the judges at the Mondial des Merlots.

But what, if an Oxford professor suggests, we had opera playing in the background, or better yet, the foreground, and we had theatre lighting for a dramatic effect? What if the walls were red with strobe lights?

We’ll never know if we’d have the same winners, or if the spicier Merlots tickled us more than the austere ones.

We did have one interesting change of environment, when the group of judges paid a visit to the capital of Valais, Sion, and we sampled a medieval-style wine while sitting in the Witch’s Tower, with a skeleton dangling in the centre of the room.

Made me appreciate the spicy, comforting pine forest notes in the wine.