Intuition as an Expression of Procedural Knowledge and its Association With Sense-Impressions: Illustrations From Winemaking Practice

Abstract

The article explores the intuitive element of procedural knowledge in winemaking. It presents data on winemakers’ interpretation of intuition, specifically its relationship with sense-impressions and experience. Interviews were conducted with six winemakers and two winemaking consultants in South Africa. Four insights on intuition emerged from the interviews. According to the first, intuition is similar to artistic inspiration, the unique and subconscious flow of ideas and approaches that characterize creative instinct. The second insight emphasizes the role of the senses in knowing intuitively, and calls for an examination of the relation between intuition and the senses. The third insight views intuition as immediate knowledge that springs from a link between past experiences and current events. In the last, intuition is seen to occur when all the facts of a matter are considered and the missing pieces of the puzzle are filled in by sensory assessments.