Good Vibrations

Learn how music impacts the taste of wine

By Gail Oberst

We’re sitting under a gigantic oak, which spreads welcome shade across the field below Lumos Wine Company in Philomath. To the west, Wren Vineyard and the Coast Range create an idyllic backdrop to the winery building, a gigantic barn built in the late 1930s. In front of us, a tie-dye-clad band aptly named Summer of Love plays the Grateful Dead’s “Sugar Magnolia.” In my hand, a glass of Aligoté; my friend is sipping a summer special sangria on ice, a fitting match with music from 1967.

Was this melodic match planned to enhance the wine experience? I ask PK McCoy, winery owner with Dai Crisp and their family. McCoy admits it was a clever idea, but no, not planned. Drink offerings are similar for all Lumos Wine’s summer music events, from classical piano concerts to rockabilly, blues and jazz performances.

Everything tastes more delicious and is particularly poignant while listening to music, I remark to my pals, not for the first time. “My guess is you’re going to write a story about it,” observes one. My friends roll their eyes and inch away from my wandering camera. They know me well.

MUSIC CHANGES TASTE

Days later, my interest in wine and music pairing led me to Susan Boe, founder of “What Does Music Taste Like,” a technology and entertainment company. Extensive research led her to create an interactive platform that explores how wine and food taste when consumers listen to specific music. Pairing music and wine isn’t solely about choosing the right songs but identifying the vibrations that enhance flavors, texture and mouthfeel, Boe shared.

Although based in New York, Boe’s company has worked with wineries in the West, including A to Z Wineworks in the Willamette Valley.

Boe has made a career of the harmonic tasting concept. Her research suggests the vibrations of particular songs, even short excerpts, can alter the perception of a wine’s flavor.

A musical mix could bypass all the fancy jargon and rating systems to create an appealing wine-tasting experience for new and younger wine drinkers, Boe suggested. For two years, beginning with tests on focus groups, thousands of What Does Music Taste Like participants tasted wines while listening to various music. The testing program included feedback from sound engineers, musicians and wine experts. The tasters’ reactions were surprising. In some cases, initial tests indicated a lack of enthusiasm for a wine, yet after listening to specific music, participants changed their minds.

“They thought we were brainwashing them,” Boe said with a laugh. “But it’s science– and art. It’s not merely mood-based. Wine has a structure, and so does music.”

What Does Music Taste Like curates playlists and events to enhance a winery’s offerings.

Though her company is unique, Boe isn’t the only expert offering tips on elevating the wine experience with music. In his book, “A Practical Guide to Pairing Wine and Music,” Clark Smith refers to a 2011 Oxford University study that supports Boe’s findings. For example, the Oxford study discovered test participants associated various wine aromas with corresponding snippets of piano, woodwind, string and bass instruments.

Boe believes pairing wine and music is not a rigid intellectual exercise but a multisensory experience, offering a unique way to attract a broad range of wine drinkers.

AMBIANCE PART OF THE PLEASURE

I’d like to see a study on the role a warm Oregon evening and good friends play in the taste of wine– I suspect a starring part. I’m still waiting for the scientists to confirm I’m right… But I digress.

Oregon winemakers I spoke with about wine and music admitted their entertainment choices were based more on personal preference and background rather than scientific or market analyses. They were, however, interested in the studies.

No better example is Joe Allan and Karen Saul’s lineup at Andante Vineyard. For a winery named after a musical expression found in classical music, one might expect subdued concerts. Yet, the Dallas winery has hosted Nashville songwriters, folk and Americana, jazz, opera singers and a Salem string quartet, as well as a small symphony group from Portland. Andante’s musical choices reflect the owners’ preferences, along with those of their guests. “Joe is an accomplished pianist whose Steinway B Model Grand costs more than his tractors,” confessed Saul, with a note of pride rather than pique.

“Music and wine make a harmonious match,” Saul explained.

Do you have opinions about which wines pair best with certain types of music? I ask her.

Yes, she exclaimed, “I’ve tried them all with every kind of music myself!” For example, Saul prefers dancing with a bigger red or listening to Hungarian music while sipping a white or sparkling wine. Her customers frequently choose their glasses of Andante wine based on what they are feeling, or on the venue– sometimes before they arrive. Cold, indoor events or warm summer days outside create different desires for wines, Saul noted. Music contributes additional pleasure while drinking a glass of wine, but many factors can impact a person’s experience, she acknowledged.

Her favorite music and wine experience?

“While my husband plays the piano, I relax in an Adirondack patio chair, sip my wine and take in our beautiful place. It’s just ecstatic– and I think many of our guests feel the same.”

WHERE’S THE MUSIC?

Many Oregon wineries– too many to list here– attract visitors with live music. Check out the Oregon Wine Press website or that of your favorite winery. Here are a few worth mentioning:

The Hudak House’s “Summervine” concert series in Salem concludes Sept. 6.

Youngberg Hill Winery’s Wine Wednesday series continues through mid-September in McMinnville.

Elk Cove Vineyards’ Vibes and Vines music series ends Sept. 12 in Gaston.

Live music is on tap at the Sept. 13 Carlton Crush Harvest Festival.

Lumos Wine Company’s musical events continue on Saturdays and Sundays through September.

Portland’s Amaterra Winery features live jazz each Thursday through Oct. 2.

Ghost Hill Cellars of Carlton hosts live music during its “Friday Night Lights” through Nov. 21.

Gail Oberst has been a Northwest writer, editor and publisher for decades. Among her favorite gigs was business editor for the News-Register, and editor pro temp for three months for the Oregon Wine Press. Inspired by the OWP, she founded the Oregon Beer Growler with her family, later selling it to Oregon Lithoprint. She continues to edit and write a wide range of articles for magazines, and weekly and regional newspapers. Recently, she published her first fiction novel, Valkyrie Dance, available on Amazon, and is working on her second, San Souci. She lives with her husband, Michael Cairns, a retired ecologist, in Independence, Oregon. They have four grown children and seven grandchildren.