If music be...
A bottle of house red please. Oh, and some Hendrix to go with it - Scotsman.com News
Scottish scientists have proved that the type of music we listen to while drinking wine influences the way we perceive its taste....
If the music was loud and dense – such as Carmina Burana, the thrusting cantata composed by Carl Orff – so the chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon used in the test were deemed more powerful and heavy.
If the soundtrack was of a more sedate, classical nature – such as Waltz of the Flowers from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker – the wine was regarded as subtle and refined.
Similar results were found in tests conducted with music considered "zingy and refreshing" – Just Can't Get Enough by Nouvelle Vague – and "mellow and soft" – Michael Brook's Slow Breakdown.
Though the songs chosen for the study were deliberately obscure – so as to minimise the likelihood that students already drew some previous association with the tracks – Mr Montes has selected music he considers the ideal accompaniment to certain wines. What his list lacks in scientific rigour it makes up for in taste; merlot, he suggests, is best consumed while listening to Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding, while Jimi Hendrix's blazing cover of All Along The Watchtower is considered the perfect soundtrack to a glass of cabernet sauvignon.
Time for some scientific research this evening with a corkscrew and youtube...