The Wine/Music Association Game

MWS contributor, Brian O'Keefe, plays the Wine Association Game, will you?

I say red, you say white.  I say green, you say gold.  I say wine, you say cheese.  OK, enough already, I’m guessing you’re from Wisconsin!  Whether you hail from Napa, Mendoza, Burgundy, Piemonte, or Rioja, people tend to sit up and take note when a food/wine pairing is suggested.  But, when it comes to pairing wine with music, does that seem a bit fabricated or just academic?  I recently read of a British Journal of Psychology study that concluded the style or genre of music playing while tasting wine, affects one’s perception of the wine towards the characteristics of the music.  Two wines were sampled while listening to one of four different styles of music, or silence.  Common adjectives for the music/wine “pairings” included subtle and refined, powerful and heavy, zingy and refreshing, and mellow and soft.  OK, fine.  I can accept this cross senses influence, although I never did discover whether Carmina Burana caused the Chilean Chard or the Chilean Bordeaux style blend, to taste powerful and heavy.  Is it possible they both elicited the same description, if the Carl Orff masterpiece was piped in?  Now that’s influential!

In a wine/music pairing, should we go for comparison or contrast?  Would common characteristics build on each other?  Would contrasts highlight the strengths in each?  Or rather than wine/music “pairings”, would association of a wine with a song and an event or place prove more fruitful (pun intended) or at least more social?  Don’t we all describe a wine/beer/meal as the best we’ve ever had, when associated with a fantastic trip, event, adventure, etc.  What does your Viognier taste like as the sun goes down over calm waters in Monterrey Bay on your last day of a fall California vacation?  Maybe the music overheard is Andres Segovia playing Suite Espanola and your wine would assume an ethereal “unbearable lightness of being” quality.  If you bought that exact wine back home, would it be as memorable?  Maybe not, but could we get your imagination stimulated here and now?

Let’s play the Wine Association Game!  I took time to select a music list with variety.  I tried to limit myself to a dozen, like a case of wine.  The wine association, however, was mostly a first impression, pop into my head kind of response, and might change with a second attempt.  Which wine (be general or as specific as you wish) would you drink with the following music and situation?  My choices are in order at the bottom.

Beach Boys on the patio in summer

Mahler Symphony in front of a fireplace during a snowstorm

Chick Corea’s “Light as a Feather” album alone with a significant other

Gershwin’s An American in Paris at “Music on the Green” outdoors in Mequon

Bruce Springsteen at a party

Jackson Browne in a convertible in summer (OK, OK, it’s parked in the driveway and I even left the keys in the house, sheesh)

Iron and Wine while paging through an old photo album

Duke Ellington late in the evening

Chopin Nocturnes reading a novel

Arturo Sandoval’s Hot House through a great sound system

Beatles during a family reunion volleyball game

Frank Sinatra anytime, anyplace

**         Unoaked California Chard or New Zealand Sauv Blanc, Brunello di Montalcino, Red Burgundy or Oregon Pinot Noir, Grand Cru Beaujolais, Dry Creek Zin, Provence Rose, Coonawara Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling esp. German Auslese, Alsatian Pinot Gris, Rioja Gran Reserva, Malbec, Bourbon

So, call it what you will, a pairing, an association or just an experiment.  At least, I hope you agree this could be fun, which of course is a big part of what we’re about here at MWS. What do you think?  Just don’t think too hard or too long.  As for me, I think more research is needed:)  

Read more about MWS contributor, Brian O'Keefe