A blog that pairs wine with cheese chocolate music.

Hello, my name is Abby.

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Two passions in my life are wine and music, both of which are wonderfully impossible to ever fully understand or categorize. Wine is a new hobby, while music has been a companion of mine since I can remember. Life can be tough, work can be hard, and school can be demanding, but I have found that with a glass of wine and the right song- relaxation is only a splash and a click away.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

What's Music Got to Do With It?

    I consider myself an open-minded person. I have my own beliefs but I am always interested in learning about new ways, techniques, thought processes, and ideas. I also believe that almost everything in life has two sides to it, you either believe it or you do not. I have found that you can almost always find research to support either way.

   As for this post, I tend to agree with the study I will share. Music impacts me in many different ways. When I was an athlete in high school, I listened to hard, rap music before every basketball game (I know, shocker). When I am taking a bubble bath and wanting to unwind, I listen to albums by artists like Zero 7. When I take a run outside, I jam to Coldplay, etc. etc. My point is, at least for me, music changes my mood and accompanies me differently depending on the activity. Hence, I am a firm believer that music has an affect on...well...everything. Below is an article about how it affects the taste of wine:

 The British Journal of Psychology recently came out with a study (September 7, 2011 to be exact) that found that people described the taste of wine based on an emotional connotation of background music that played while they drank it. For example, while listening to the song "Slow Breakdown" by Michael Brook, they described the wine to be "mellow" and "soft". I typically do not take research seriously unless it is from a reputable source (thank you, graduate school) so when I came across this study I was impressed. The British Journal of Criminology is a reputable journal and one that I am very familiar with. Auditory stimuli, according to the article, may influence other modalities, causing the taste of wine to be perceived differently. Here is the PDF for those interested to read more. It is interesting to see which songs the study used and how participants described the wine during each song. Maybe I should try a home experiment?

source: winedigs.com

   As future research continues to explore this new phenomena, the wine and music industry could change as we know it. Now, how much fun would that be? Fun. Very fun.

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