Chilled tunes for cool reds
Put your lighter red wines on ice and cue up some suitably refreshing sounds
As those of us in the Southern Hemisphere make the most of our final balmy days, and the Northern Hemisphere looks forward to warmer months, now’s a great time to enjoy that newly popular style that sits on its own sensory threshold, the chilled red. Red wines that benefit from being served cool are characteristically soft in texture, crisp in acidity, light in body, low in alcohol, with plenty of bright fruit, and minimal oak.
Thinking about music that suits these largely uncomplicated fresh wines, the mood is similarly lighter and upbeat. Compatible musical characters are high pitch to partner higher acidity, lighter and brighter timbres tending towards pure tones and delicately delivered melodies. Research into the effect of temperature on the perception of pitch and tempo, has also shown that colder drinks are matched to higher-pitched and faster tempo music.1
I’m keeping things fairly chilled in my wine and music match suggestions from the genres of exotica, chillout and dream pop. Read on …