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If you're busy organising your Christmas party, you might do well to have a butchers' at the latest piece of bonkers research.

According to a new German study, white wine can taste considerably better depending on the ambient lighting scheme.

For reasons we have not yet determined, researchers at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz discovered that drinkers, given the same bottle of Riesling, perceived their tipple as sweeter and fruitier when knocked back in a red lit room than in a white or green light.

And not only that. Obtain a blue or red tinted ambience and your guests will think your wine is more expensive – around one euro per bottle more in fact.

Dr Daniel Oberfeld-Twistel, from the university, told The Telegraph that, though more tests were needed to establish exactly why ambient lighting should have an effect on the taste of wine, all the signs were that it could be down to the mood they put people in.

He said: "We thought it was simply that colours that people found agreeable would put them in an agreeable mood. However early tests seem to show that it is not as simple as that.

"We still believe however that it is something to do with the mood they put people in. For some reason some colours put people in a more positive mood."

So while you might want to be careful in those fancy wine bars this Christmas folks, you could save yourself a fortune if you're having the neighbours round for a festive drink.