I went back and looked up the details. It turns out that the protocol was that they were served two glasses of wine, one red, one white. They were actually the same (white) wine. The red wine had (flavorless) food coloring added. Yes, it's deceptive, but this sort of deception is common is psychological studies. I'd say it's fair game in this case.
No it's really unfair and a stunt.
Expecting to taste a red wine and getting a disguised white wine means you're not ready to appreciate a white wine. It's a whole different world so no wonder they found it off.
It would have actually been a better call to stick to white wine, no coloring added, and differentiate only with the label.
> differentiate only with the label
They've done studies like that too, with similar results.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/23/wine-tas...
I agree with the general inability of wine tasters to discern nearly as much as they believe, just not this particular example.