This is awesome. According to a BBC News article today, psychologists have found that listening to certain types of music while you sip will affect the way that you taste the wine. For instance, subjects rated white wine 40% more zingy and refreshing when they listened to Just Can’t Get Enough (a “zingy and refreshing” song), and they found red wine 60% more powerful and heavy when they listened to Orff’s Carmina Burana.
Chilean winemaker Aurelio Montes (who, incidentally, plays monastic chants to his maturing wines in barrel — I guess the BBC wanted to leave that story for another day) offers recommendations for music and wine pairings that will, um, make beautiful music together. For Syrah, he suggests: Nessun Dorma (Puccini), Orinoco Flow (Enya), Chariots of Fire (Vangelis), and Canon (Johann Pachelbel).
I’m sure the study didn’t take into account the associations that some of us already have with the music. I know plenty of people who mainly just feel like vomiting when they hear the Pachelbel Canon. Anyway, I’m going to experiment and see what the Buena Vista Social Club does for the bottle of Red Diamond Merlot in my kitchen. As long as the music doesn’t make it taste like a Cuba libre, I figure it can’t hurt.
I wonder if you should only drink wine that responds to music you like.
Interesting thought! Does that mean that taste in wine changes at the same rate as taste in music? Here’s another puzzler…
Which is better?
1. Being tested for number of tastebuds/food preferences/music preferences and using the results to determine the wines that you are likely to enjoy.
2. Trial and error. Tasting wines randomly to figure out your preferences for yourself.
I’m inclined to pick something between the two. Figure out your wine profile based on other factors like food and music, but then remember to play around and challenge yourself. Think outside the bottle, if you will.
Wow that is the neatest thing. Does it work with other senses? If you are at an art gallery for instance? Rembrandt vs. Mondrian? Monet vs. Pollock? Very neat…
I vote #2. This post made me want to buy some wine… Off I go!
I wonder! What about fabrics? If you’re wearing a lovely satin scarf, does the wine feel smoother? Do expensive wines taste less special if you’re drinking in your PJs?
I posit that since drinking wine is a sensual experience, the “sense doors” that you open when you drink it can be a part of any sense. For example, stroking a beautiful mink coat should elicit a certain type of wine. If you like mink, you might have a better chance of liking the wine. So, if you like wearing your pjs – they are comfortable, made of soft flannel, and worn when your sweetie is around – then they will enhance the wine.
I think that someone should test and see if this is true!
Yes, I think so too.
This made me think of you: http://online.wsj.com/article/tastings.html
🙂
~sb