(Wine Searcher) - Fixed ideas can be hard to shift, James Lawrence reports – and some are more persistent than others.

t's a familiar sight – or least it was in the 1950s.

The obsequious sommelier, clad in weathered black tie, hands the wine list to the gentleman, ignoring his female companion. Rupert flicks through the pages, muttering that if she insists on salmon then claret is out of the question.

Finally he settles on Chambertin – the sommelier nods approvingly and soon offers him a virgin sip. "Perhaps I could try it first for a change?" Margery cautiously enquires, aware that she's skating on dangerously thin ice. The silence of a forgotten tomb engulfs the restaurant. She's forgotten her place, and then some.

Of course, one would expect such conventions to be rejected as woefully anachronistic today, yet in my experience restaurant staff still typically default to men when it's time to taste the wine.

However, new research published in May suggested that the female palate is more discerning, although the caveat was that men have a stronger "emotional reaction" to wine than women.