KEY POINTS:
Could I recommend some Nirvana with your sauvignon, sir?" says the sommelier. "And perhaps some Billie Holiday with madam's pinot? I wouldn't advise the Christina Aguilera, though, as that would really overpower the subtleties of the fruit."
This may seem a bit far-fetched, but an American winemaker believes
that just as wine and food can bring out the best - or worst - in each other, so can wine and music.
"We associate different wine types with different moods, just as we do with music," Californian winemaker and technologist Clark Smith explains. "When the wine and music match, both improve. When they clash, it can be awful."
Smith is working to find the most harmonious combinations, and runs workshops exploring the synergy between wine and music. In these, he demonstrates his theory by playing a varied selection of tracks with different wines to show how the music can change their character.
"These are very strong effects, and it's interesting to see how universal they are."
Can it make a cheap chardonnay taste any classier? Treat it with a blast of the Beach Boys or a snatch of Cyndi Lauper and your experience will be enhanced, he says.
To ensure your musical matches don't strike the wrong note, Smith advises, you train yourself to be sensitive to the mood of an individual wine. "Anybody can tell happy music from sad or angry, romantic or lustful, and wines are the same. Cabernets are angry, pinots romantic, rieslings cheerful."
Red wines tend to be enhanced by soulful music, with cheerful or strident tones bringing out harshness in reds, but complementing fresh whites.
Jazz drummer and Amisfield winemaker Jeff Sinnott can relate to the influence music can have on wine.
"I've no doubt that music affects your ability to perceive things differently, and that includes wine."
For him, the sensorial nature of wine and music triggers an emotional response.
"The links between music and wine are a lot closer than people think, but it's often not as simple as just a glass of wine with music."
The company in which the wine is being drunk and the occasion, as well as the music, all play a part in heightening a wine drinking experience, Sinnott reckons. While the Amisfield winery often rings with a diverse array of music - which Sinnott considers creates a more positive environment that can enhance wine quality by motivating staff to go the extra distance - he's particular when it comes to what he listens to when he's blending.
"You must be careful it doesn't intrude too much into your way of thinking," he says. He finds a calm piece of classical or baroque the most appropriate accompaniment to assemblage.
Scientific chef supremo, Heston Blumenthal has started serving seafood dishes accompanied by the sound of crashing waves, after being involved in research that proved sound can influence taste.
As an appreciation of the affinity between the two increases, it could be that the table settings of tomorrow will come complete with iPod.
Musical accompaniments
Nice with Nirvana
Highfield Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007
$24
American winemaker Clark Smith considers the perfect piece to pair with a Marlborough sauvignon blanc, like this rich and punchy example from Highfield with its palate of vibrant gooseberry, herb and nettle, to be something from Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon, or Clouds. Nirvana is also a good match he thinks, "but makes the herbal aspects disappear and the fruit come forward, so it becomes more generally agreeable but less distinctive," he says.
From Caro's.
Wine in a minor key
D'Arenberg The Galvo Garage 2004
$33-$35
Scott Walker's Montague Terrace in Blue is the track I'd pair with this cabernet sauvignon-based blend, as its dark spicy blackcurrant fruit over rich savoury notes resonate with Walker's deeply sonorous tones. Both are multi-textured, a bit bombastic but balanced by their piquancy. Dark stuff.
From Fine Wine Delivery Company, Glengarry, Caro's.
Lady suits the wine
Amisfield Central Otago Pinot Noir 2006
$45-$48
Winemaker and musician Jeff Sinnott feels his flagship pinot is in a gravelly phase that's more Tom Waits than the Billie Holiday he sees it evolving towards. With its sultry supple dark fruit and spice, earthy nuances and hint of great pinots elegant fragility that's exposed as the wine unfolds with expert timing, I think its already a winning match with Sinnott's chosen accompaniment - Holiday's God Bless the Child.
From Fine Wine Delivery Company, Glengarry, Point Wines.
