**1. Introduction**

The globalization of markets, an increase in per capita income (especially in developing countries), and eventually increased spending power has allowed more consumers to access wine products from around the world [1]. With the increasing consumers' wine demand and increased competition, the production of higher quality and more acceptable wines is one of the biggest challenges for the wine industry to remain relevant in the market [2]. Sensory analysis of wines is an essential and critical component of quality control [3,4]. The chemical composition measured by instrumental analysis can provide valuable and reliable information to assess the quality of wine products; however, the consumers' assessment is a critical decision-making tool to test the success of the product in the marketplace [1,2]. Sensory analysis, which relies on the sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing senses

to determine the intrinsic properties of wine products provides a multidimensional response that is closely related to the tasting experience of consumers. From the vineyards (grape quality) to the final wine products that are being consumed on various occasions, sensory analysis is an important tool in the manufacturing chain of wine production and commercialization [5].

Traditional wine assessment depends on the tasting abilities of a panel of experts who rate the quality of wines using an attribute-based grading system [2]. However, this method only uses a small number of scores that might not explain the acceptability of the product entirely. On the other hand, standard consumers' sensory evaluation relies on using isolated booths for removing external environmental factors, including odors and noises that can produce biases in responses [6,7]. However, these controlled environments lack ecological validity because they do not offer "real-world" conditions for replicating the authentic tasting experience of consumers [8]. Sensory laboratories can be considered unfamiliar environments for the consumption of foods and beverages, where consumers are separated in booths and isolated from external stimuli. In reality, consumption of foods and beverages is influenced by the environmental factors that stimulate the senses of consumers [9–11]. The contextual elements are complex and variable, including several sensory stimuli, which constitute the background information of the tasting experience. The different external factors create complex contextual cues that are essential for the formation of subsequent consumers' behaviors, expectations, and hedonic evaluations [12–15]. Besides the sensory characteristics of products, external factors surrounding consumers (environmental and social interaction) can also affect the acceptability and emotional responses [16].

The lack of active consumers' engagement in the sensory and hedonic evaluations can reduce the prediction rates of product choice, which leads to a higher probability of failure in the research and development of new products in the food and beverage industry [8]. The primary purpose of using a sensory laboratory is to collect responses generated by the senses of participants with the elimination of the influences produced by external factors [17]. Compared to traditional sensory laboratory setups, "real-world" environments have multiple external variables that are difficult to quantify and control. For instance, Dorado, Chaya, Tarrega, and Hort [16] stated that the contextual information could affect the emotional responses of consumers towards beer products, but this effect was not significant for liking. Sester et al. [18] found that different contexts, produced by the simulation of two bar environments using immersive technology (bars were decorated with cold and warm tone lights with different background pictures), had a significant effect on consumers' choices of drinks. Nijman et al. [19] found that consumers were able to discriminate lager and ale beers better using a real bar as a testing environment compared to that of traditional sensory booths. However, conducting sensory research in external locations is challenging because it can be generally time-consuming and expensive [20].

The creation of a simulated virtual environment within the controllable laboratory setup for the sensory evaluation of wine products could be a step closer to pursue ecological validity at a relatively lower cost. Virtual reality (VR) technology, which combines a series of interactive computer-generated images or videos that link users' minds and sensory systems, can be applied to simulate environments similar to the "real world" [21]. The virtual environment provided by the VR technology usually is generated by using VR headsets, which can offer visual and auditory stimuli with the advantage of being easy to operate [22]. VR technology can generate virtual scenes throughout dynamic environments that make participants feel engaged by using stereoscopic displays and sensing technology. Moreover, compared with the "real-world" environment, the conditions of VR environments are relatively controllable, and the environments are easy to replicate. There is a growing interest in the scientific community on studying the effects of VR on sensory and consumer sciences [23–25]. Regarding the use of real surroundings, Hannum et al. [26] evaluated the effect of three contextual environments (traditional sensory booths, an immersive wine bar, and an actual wine bar) on the acceptability and purchase intent of consumers toward wine samples. Although they found that the environment had a marginal effect on acceptability, individual consumers' behaviors changed depending on the

environment that was used. There is still very little information on how the VR environments perform against "real-world" contexts. Therefore, this study evaluated the perception, sensory acceptability, and emotional responses of a Cabernet Sauvignon wine under different conditions, including traditional sensory booths, "real-word" contextual environments, and VR simulations with associated hardware.
