MUSIC & WINE:  MUSIC CAN INFLUENCE TASTE

If food, glassware, perfumes can affect how a wine taste, why wouldn't music?   Some songs inspires, some songs make us want to dance, some songs make us sad, some songs carry us back in time.  Music, whether we realize or not, does affect our emotions and that will influence what wine we choose as well as how it tastes.

Professor Adrian North from Henriot Watt University has conducted a supermarket research playing French and German music in the background. Consumers were not told the nature of the music.  The study revealed that that consumers were five times more likely to buy French wine than German wine if accordion music (French) was played in the background.  When an oompah band (German) was played, consumers were twice as likely to buy German wines. (North, Hargreaves, & McKendrick 1997)

Another interesting study (Areni & Kim, 1993) explored the impact of classical music vs. top 40 music on consumers.  Classical music has often been stereotyped to wealth and sophistication.  The study revealed that playing classical music in the background induced consumers to buy more expensive wines than playing top 40 music.

Professor North carried the research further, experimenting if music could influence the taste of wine?  Experimenets were conducted on 250 adults against various controls.  The differences between with music and no music conditions were significant.  Music shifted the perception of wine to the moods primed by music by an average of 37.25%.  For example, if the background music was zingy and refreshing, then the wine was perceived as more zingy and refreshing than when no music was in the background. (North, Wine & Song)

Below are few tips that can give you a better wine and music pairing experience:

• Pairing is by songs.  In an album, a song can pair well with a white off-dry Riesling while the next would pair well with a bold, well-structured Cabernet Sauvignon  
• Think of melodies and moods -- a quick-beat, happy, and lively melody could pair well with a refreshing, crispy sauvignon blanc; an upbeat american pop with passionate and vibrant vocals may go well with a sexy, bold american pop red  
• Think of structure -- a layered songs with different musical instruments go well with a layered wine 
• Think of origin -- a Spanish salsa would go well with a Garnacha. 

The best part of wine and music pairing -- every song has a different appeal to a different person.  There is never a right and wrong in wine and music pairing, just individual preference.  Below are some of my favorite music and wine pairing:

A light, fast-tempo happy song with a refreshing Sauvignon Blanc.
Medium-paced jazz / bossa nova with merlot or rioja.
American pop with petite syrah or zinfandel.
Brazilian jazz with grand cru burgundies.
French oldies romance with a vosne romanee!

Next time you drink wine, think about what music is in the background.. change the music and explore the emotional changes in yourself and your tasting experience !