If Lady Gaga Were A Wine…
If Lady Gaga Were A Wine…
"I’ll have the pinot noir and David Gray, please"
The Wine Enthusiast magazine recently held a 10-week-long contest asking its readers to pair wine with a song. Those who received top honors described pairings in great detail, down to why black currants in red Burgundy paired well with brooding jazz melodies. (Answer: the black currants mirror jazz with their dense, layered, persistent flavors that “linger and surprise.”) Appreciation of music and wine can go hand-in-hand if the listener/imbiber thinks of them both as forms of art.
Will drinking a storied Napa cabernet enhance or subdue the enjoyment of Beethoven’s 5th? How then is a perfect wine and music pairing created? It seems to be centered on each individual palate. James Oestreich’s symphony reviews in the New York Times could easily be mistaken for a wine description, as when he recently wrote: “The orchestra played well, with a full-bodied sound and yet a transparency that helped clarify lines in the occasionally dense counterpoint.”
One way of pairing music with wine is by following Oestreich’s lead and picking the wine whose “arc” parallels a piece of music. For example, you’d probably describe Lady Gaga’s music as upbeat, pop, with vibrant vocals and explosive passion. For this reason, her music might be described as a zinfandel-- a big, bold, all-American wine, one characterized by a spicy, sometimes wild note on the finish.
What do you think are some obvious music and wine pairings? Share them with us below.
Tags: wine, music, Wine Enthusiast
