Flavourful Mélodie

Music and Wine I : shapes, pitches, rythms

Crossmodal correspondences ( aka associating roundness and sweetness, brightness and high pitch...) are used to study the relationship between music and wine, directing the taster's attention to a particular feature of the beverage while listening to a specific piece. Basically “what we hear could influence what we think about what we taste”
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Wine and music go so well together because they share common descriptors : a soft wine/music, heavy music/wine, and even anthropomorphic features.
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Some songs seem to go particularly well with given wines, yet the opposite is also true: a dissociation music-wine will reduce the tasting experience and promote further features (astringency, alcohol, oak) to seem more dominant.
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Wines have gotten better ratings and a “sweeter” taste while listening to matching music versus being tasted silently:

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The length of the wine (how long its presence lasts in your mouth ) seems to be longer with slower beat music (Rachmaninoff, Vocalise. 80 beats), and shorter with higher beats (Claude Debussy, Jardin sous la pluie. 150 beats). A faster tempo is also linked with drinking faster).
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Music does not create new aromas or flavors, but enhances or diminishes the astringency (dryness), acidity mouthwatering), fruitiness etc.. depending on the song played, changing the taster’s overall perception: he can love the wine because of its smooth texture, yet not being able to drink the same wine when bitterness takes over as the music changes.
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Music can change people’s mood, for a happier or sadder tone. Negative emotions reduce one’s sense of smell, while bitterness and saltiness appear lessen if feeling anxious.
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Tasters have agreed that a “right” or “wrong” wine-music pairing exists, despite their personal taste in music or wine.
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Changes in tempo, volume, timbre and other musical patterns (shifting from major to minor, or changing genres ( ex. Bohemian Rhapsody, anyone?) affect how we perceive wine within the same piece. We'd need a “video game music” that seems to be evolving yet remains the same to have better analysis.
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Researchers are composing specific pieces of music to study particular wine features.
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Experience tasters, winemakers and trained musicians still to be confirmed is affected the same way.
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Would winemakers start selling bottles with a correspondent music indicated on the label to enhance the tasting experience?
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Would restaurants decide to play certain music to enhance a Syrah’s violets, or reduce the oak presence in a young vintage?

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