If you
tune in to Classic fm on a Sunday afternoon between now and Christmas
your ears will be massaged by the unmistakeable and mellifluous tones
of Simon Callow (he of Four Weddings fame) as he embarks on a musical
travelogue. The plummy voiced actor and writer (I specify, lest
there be any confusion with the high-waisted trouser wearing creator
of X Factor, Simon Cowell) plays a selection of classical music
tunes, focusing on a particular part of the world each week.
Thanks
for the tip, you're thinking, but what, prey, is the connection with
wine? At points along his musical journey, Simon Callow makes
mention of a suitable glass of wine to have to hand as you listen to
the music. Laithwaite's, the wine merchant, is the sponsor of the
programme, dubbed Tasting Notes, and listeners can order a
taste-along case of wines mentioned in the programme.
Last
week listeners travelled, virtually, through Hungary and enjoyed some
of the best known pieces of music to emerge from that country, with a
recommendation of a glass of a Laithwaite's Hungarian Pinot Grigio
to accompany them. In the second half of the program Simon moved on
to a tour of Spain, a glass of Navarra rosé
in hand.
The
thinking behind the show's format is that listening to an appropriate
piece of music can enhance the experience of drinking a particular
glass of wine – and a glass of wine can certainly enhance one's
listening pleasure. What of the science of it? Well, there isn't
any really, but there is no arguing with music's ability to alter our
consciousness; to heighten the senses. I know that certain songs
have the ability to transport me to a certain time and place from my
past. And if drinking wine isn't in some way altering our
consciousness, then we must be doing it wrong.
Classical
music and wine is all very well, but what if you're a bit more low
brow and popular culture in your tastes? I have to confess to being
something of a classical music numpty; my collection comprising the
predictable mixture of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Mozart's Requiem and a
couple of operas.
Listening
to Classic fm this week, however, has inspired me to try out my
version of music and wine matching, but based on my own musical
tastes.
There
are myriad theories about how to match wines with food: from matching
the flavours and “weight” of the dishes you are eating with your
wine selection, to using the wine instead to create a contrast and to
somehow “cut through” the food flavours, and many more in
between. I've taken inspiration from this clearly unscientific
approach to come up with my own wine and music matches.
If you
are listening to Coldplay (and I understand that some people do) and
wish to embrace the idea of matching the feel of the music to the
wine, then you might pair the banal ubiquity of Chris Martin and his
merry men with a corresponding wine. And nothing says banal ubiquity
in wine terms like Pinot Grigio. However, the two together sound
like a recipe for narcolepsy, so it might be safer instead to choose
a wine that will act as an antidote to the whale music and go for
something bracing, zesty and full of life – a bone dry Clare Valley
Riesling from Australia springs to mind.
Drinking
anything with a sparkle, but most especially Champagne, betokens
celebration. But sometimes you don't have anything to celebrate
particularly, but fancy the Champagne anyway. For such an occasion,
the jaunty nihilism of The Smiths' “There is a light that never
goes out” feels right:
If
a double-decker bus crashes into us,
to
die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.
Or if
the thought of a violent death, even when accompanied by so much
jolly, jangly guitar, is too much of a downer, then a more
conventional music choice might be Badly Drawn Boy's up-beat “All
Possibilities”.
Is
there a style of music that harmonises naturally with red wines,
which are surely what most of us crave at this dark and cold time of
the year? For me the rich velvet tones of Nina Simone suggest a
glass of something red and robust. Nina spent her final years in the
south of France, so a drop of complex, rich and powerful
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
would be a fitting candidate.
There
are of course, many songs which mention wine and drinking which
suggest an obvious link between music and wine. Popular though
singing about drinking may be, it is not without its pitfalls. Joni
Mitchell's boast that:
I
could drink a case of you
And
still be on my feet
on her
classic album, Blue, would surely fall foul nowadays of sensible
drinking guidelines. Perhaps she should have gone on to specify that
she meant a case of alcohol free beer. Likewise the popular Cockney
sing-along “Roll out the barrel” might need to be modified along
the lines of:
Roll
out the barrel
We'll
have a barrel of fun.
Roll
out the barrel
We've
got the blues on the run.
Just
2 units for women
And
3-4 for the men.
No
binge drinking from the barrel
For
the gang's all here.
And
Ricky Martin, in Livin' la Vida Loca describes the song's temptress
thus:
She
never drinks the water and makes you order French Champagne.
French
Champagne? Does he not know that the body charged with protecting
the Champagne name spends many Euros every year to ensure we only
ever apply it to sparkling wine made in the approved method within
the designated Champagne region in France? Ricky, you may be an
expert on Latin-tinged pop, but when it comes to understanding the
French Appellation Contrôlée
system, you have A LOT to learn.
Simon
Callow's Tasting Notes programme runs until 23rd
December on Sunday afternoons from 3-5pm.
