Wine and music (II): can you taste the music? Modulating the experience of wine through music and sound

A growing body of scientific evidence now shows that what people taste when evaluating a wine, and how much they enjoy the experience, can be influenced by the music that happens to be playing at the same time. It has long been known that what we hear can influence the hedonic aspects of tasting. However, what the latest research now shows is that by 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. We argue against an account of such results in terms of synaesthesia, or “oenesthesia,” as some have chosen to call it. Instead, we suggest that attention, directed via the crossmodal correspondences that exist between sound and taste (in the popular meaning of the term, i.e., flavor), can modify (perhaps enhance, or certainly highlight when attended, or suppress when unattended) certain elements in the complex tasting experience that is drinking wine. We also highlight the likely role played by any change in the mood or emotional state of the person listening to the music on taste/aroma perception as well. Finally, we highlight how the crossmodal masking of sweetness perception may come into effect if the music happens to be too loud (a form of crossmodal sensory masking). Taken together, the evidence reviewed here supports the claim that, strange though it may seem, what we hear (specifically in terms of music) really can change our perception of the taste of wine, not to mention how much we enjoy the experience. Several plausible mechanisms that may underlie such crossmodal effects are outlined

On the Colours of Odours

In the present study, we explore the existence of cross-cultural differences in odour-colour correspondences between two European countries with geographic proximity and shared history: England and France. Moreover, we test whether a single chromatic arrangement can be used to represent an odour in both countries, even if the odour-colour association for this odour differed. The responses of 59 British and 60 French participants to the same set of odorants were compared. Significant colour characterizations were observed for each and every one of the odours tested in both populations. Moreover, both commonalities and differences were reported between the two populations in terms of the odour-colour associations that they exhibited. In the second part of the study, the ability of “chromatic cards” to represent odours was tested. Those “chromatic cards” are objective coloured arrangements generated by a new patented scientific tool developed at Lorraine University (patent FR n°1255688). This tool is based on a neural network algorithm for colour forecasting. It generates a chromatic card that represents any odour from its chemical composition and sensory description. In this study, participants were presented with three cards obtained from an analysis of lavender, cucumber, and peppermint odours. First, the participants had to name the odour evoked by each card. Next, they selected from amongst three different olfactory stimuli the one that best matched each card. The chromatic representations evoked the appropriate odour percept and were significantly associated to their related odours in both of the populations. These findings highlight the existence of common colour representations of odours amongst French and British participants, though some differences were also found. Despite these differences, we were able to validate the relevancy of using single chromatic arrangements in both countries in order to communicate odour information. The latter result may open-up the way for a number of potentially important applications in the design and marketing of both food and non-food products

A large sample study on the influence of the multisensory environment on the wine drinking experience

Background We report on what may well be the world’s largest multisensory tasting experiment. Over a period of 4 days in May 2014, almost 3,000 people sampled a glass of red wine in a room in which the colour of the lighting and/or the music was changed repeatedly. The participants rated the wine, presented in a black tasting glass, on taste, intensity and liking scales while standing in each of four different environments over a period of 7 to 8 minutes. During the first 2 days (Experiment 1), the participants rated the wine while exposed to white lighting, red lighting, green lighting with music designed to enhance sourness and finally under red lighting paired with music associated with sweetness. During the latter 2 days of the event (Experiment 2), the same wine was rated under white lighting, green lighting, red lighting with sweet music and finally green lighting with sour music. Results In Experiment 1, the wine was perceived as fresher and less intense under green lighting and sour music, as compared to any of the other three environments. On average, the participants liked the wine most under red lighting while listening to sweet music. A similar pattern of results was reported in Experiment 2. Conclusions These results demonstrate that the environment can exert a significant influence on the perception of wine (at least in a random sample of social drinkers). We outline a number of possible explanations for how the sensory properties of the environment might influence the perception of wine. Finally, we consider some of the implications of these results for the wine drinking experience

Wine psychology: basic & applied

Basic cognitive research can help to explain our response to wine, and the myriad factors that affect it. Wine is a complex, culture-laden, multisensory stimulus, and our perception/experience of its properties is influenced by everything from the packaging in which it is presented through the glassware in which it is served and evaluated. A growing body of experiential wine research now demonstrates that a number of contextual factors, including everything from the colour of the ambient lighting through to background music can exert a profound, and in some cases predictable, influence over the tasting experience. Sonic seasoning - that is, the matching of music or soundscapes with specific wines in order to accentuate or draw attention to certain qualities/attributes in the wine, such as sweetness, length, or body, also represents a rapidly growing area of empirical study. While such multisensory, experiential wine research undoubtedly has a number of practical applications, it also provides insights concerning multisensory perception that are relevant to basic scientists. Furthermore, the findings of the wine research are also often relevant to those marketers interested in understanding how the consumers' perception of any other food or beverage product can potentially be modified