Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/70675
WINEMAKING Figure 1: Sweet Spot Tasting of 1999 Syrah Reduced from 18% ethanol Judge = 22 free choice frequency 10 5 0 Syrah % v/v ethanol anism. As hunter-gatherers, primal humans needed to eat. They also needed to avoid toxins and developed through natural selection a highly refined ability to detect mold compounds, alkaloids and other nastiness. Put something in your mouth, and the brain needs to make a snap decision whether to re- ward the impulse to chew and swallow or to press the panic button and spit it out now. Something about wine magnifies these sensitivities. We have a problem, Houston The NPR Chardonnay experiment is an extreme case of "exclu- sive" pairings. Rector's team went to great trouble to find music that so starkly discriminated Chardonnay styles. Still, most music is exclusive. Open a Riesling, a Sauvignon Blanc, a Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Sauvignon, and most tunes will work with only one of the wines. This is a big problem for restaurants, because diners at adja- cent tables are drinking different wines. Winery tasting rooms have the same problem. Fortunately, there do exist "inclusive" pieces that resonate with an overall theme. A restaurant's theme may be "romantic getaway," "family joint" or "hip/swank." Ev- ery aspect—menu, ambience, lighting—should be aligned with this theme. Once properly inclusive background music is se- lected, the sommelier should always evaluate purchases within this environment. My own wines are Eurocentric and intellectual, so they like Gershwin, flamenco and Samuel Barber. One of my clients IDL_Dir11 11/18/10 4:21 PM Page 1 Iván D.Lessner Process Solutions Inc. Process & Product Development Alcoholic & Non Alcoholic Beverage Industry Equipment Sales IDL ■ R. WAGNER: Rapid SO2, TA ■ ERBSLOEH: Fining & Treatment Agents, Yeasts, Enzymes, CelluFluxx (D.E. Replacement) ■ TRUST: Quality Hungarian Oak Barrels & Chips ■ EMD: Reflectoquant Analyzer & Kits 1164 Lee Street, White Rock, B.C. V4B 4P4 Canada Phone: (604) 538-2713 Fax: (604) 538-4517 www.idlconsulting.com makes very showy, somewhat shallow wines that work very well with Hollywood theme scores such as Star Wars' Main Theme and the Love Theme from Superman ("Can You Read My Mind?") Locating a playlist of inclusive pieces is a lot of work, but the payoff is considerable. Theme music not only boosts tasting room sales, it is great for winemakers to blend to. Playing theme music while making blending decisions is the best way I know to stabilize a winery style vintage to vintage. It's vastly more effective than reducing wine to a grocery list of aroma notes and trying to balance them. I simply haven't found evidence that Aroma Wheel elements please my customers as dependably as a well-harmonized style. Seasoned wine professionals often find the possibility disturb- ing that music and other environmental factors could have a pro- found influence on wine judgment, because a lifetime of quality assessments may go out the window. Too bad. The experience is not entirely in the bottle. Anyone who has purchased a case in hopes to duplicate a peak experience has learned the hard way that the first bottle, consumed in an ideal environment, was much better than the others. Music pairing pro- vides a powerful tool for improving your chances of connecting with your next bottle. HAUSER PACKAGING For the best quality! spirits and beer bottles on the east coast! Give us a try! We are the largest importer of wine, Toll free (888) 600-2671 www.hauserpack.com WECO M.O.G. Sorter Optical Sorting of Stems, Jacks, Shot Berry and Foreign Material Based in California Rental and Purchase Options Sorting and Automation Solutions 1-800-984-0844 / wecotek.com Wines & Vines MARCH 2011 63 15.5 15.4 15.3 15.2 15.1 15.0 14.9 14.8 14.7 14.6 14.5 14.4 14.3 14.2 14.1 14.0 13.9 13.8 13.7 13.6 13.5 13.4 13.3 13.2 13.1 13.0 12.9 12.8 12.7 12.6