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davidjennings's Archive on May 16, 2008
Description
This is one of those research findings that sounds incredible from the headline (music affects the way wine tastes), but then turns out to be unsurprising when you read the detail (it turns out that people describe the taste of the wine in terms of the general ambience of their environment).
Clipping
The test subjects were assigned to a red-wine group (given cabernet sauvignon) or a white-wine group (which got chardonnay). They were then sent to one of five rooms. In each of four rooms, a different type of music was playing. One room had no music. "One room played music that we thought was powerful and heavy, one room played subtle and refined music, one room played what we call zingy and refreshing music and one room played mellow and soft music," said Prof. North. The test subjects were then asked to rate the wine - powerful, subtle, zingy or refreshing - on a scale of zero to 10. The study found the answers corresponded with the music. "So, if you had our white wine in the context of powerful and heavy music you'd find that white wine really powerful and heavy," said Prof. North. "If you drank the red wine listening to zingy and refreshing music you'd find the red wine quite zingy and refreshing."