Days of Wine and Music: The Genesis

This is the second installment in our “Days of Wine and Music” series.

The proximate impetus for this series came about when this writer encountered renowned tenor Vittorio Grigolo on the set of Tosca, where the latter had the starring role of Mario and the former that of Roberti, his executioner. A fellow cast member, the multitalented Herve Chavassieux, informed him that Vittorio was also in the business of wine production and that his company was producing a high-end wine with the name “Opera Viva.” As our readers most certainly have surmised, we say “viva” to both wine and opera here at drinkingjapan.org, so it was only natural that the two of us should discuss the matter over drinks, which included wine of course, after the final performance.

The links between the genre and the drink may not always be direct but should be apparent to many upon a little reflection. The three heavy hitters in the world of opera are Italy, Germany, and France, and the same three countries are considered major players in the world of wine.

The fortuitous encounter with Mr. Grigolo was not the only factor that impelled us with regard to this. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest very significant links between music and the appreciation of wine. These findings are not only interesting but can play an important role in marketing, as well. I will list in bullet form two of them, which were published in a peer-reviewed journal entitled Flavour in 2015. The title of the article is “Wine and Music: Can You Taste the Music? Modulating the Experience of Wine Through Music and Sound” by Charles Spence and Qian Wang.

• “A growing body of scientific evidence now shows that what people taste when evaluating wine, and how much they enjoy the experience can be influenced by the music that happens to be playing at the same time.”

• “…playing the ‘right’ music one can also impact specific sensory-discriminative aspects of tasting as well. Music has been shown to influence the perceived acidity, sweetness, fruitiness, astringency and length of wine.”

For more information on Mr. Grigolo, readers might want to visit his website: https://vittoriogrigolo.com/wines/