The Write Taste
drinks reviews, copywriting services and wine tastings

Listen, taste and enjoy Languedoc vineyard vibrations!

Languedoc tasting

A late Tuesday afternoon/evening in September saw an innovative new tasting combining the senses while enjoying Languedoc wines. Was it a stuffy, traditional style tasting? No. Did it offer an alternative perspective on wines, wine events and sensory experiences? Yes!

Languedoc

Stretching between Provence and the Pyrenees, the Massif Central and the Mediterranean Sea, the Languedoc has always been a go-to region for good value wine from a huge range of grape varieties 🍇.

With a 2,500-year history of making wine, the region continues to reinvent itself with a new generation of creative, forward-thinking, young winemakers planting new vines in a diverse landscape of soils and microclimates.

Languedoc tasting

There's a strong emphasis on protecting local ecosystems and soil health. The Languedoc is the most eco-friendly wine region in France 🇫🇷 with a third of production having organic and environmental certification.

Recent economic and political turmoil (see - I avoided the B- word there … kind of!) have seen some UK wine prices creeping northwards. Yet, affordability remains a huge factor in many people's wine buying decisions, but different, unusual, interesting choices can appeal too. So, can these all be combined?

A cool new Languedoc wine tasting

It's not as if the Languedoc is unknown, but as a region, it's not always on the average wine drinker's radar. So what better way to promote these wines than an über-cool 😎 tasting with chilled jazz, a manageable number of wines, delicious food, three mini sensory experiences and, if the weather had been better, great views of the London skyline!

Languedoc tasting

Tasting wine: sensory experiences

🍷 Who would you like to share this glass of wine with and on what occasion?
🎶 What music does this wine remind you of?
🎼 Does your impression of the wine change with different types of music?

These were the challenges with a different wine at each 'sensory station', in addition to a tasting of white, rosé and red Languedoc wines.



Sensory research

Can our enjoyment of wine depend on where and in what situation it is drunk? Widely reported research, carried out by experimental psychologists at Oxford University a decade ago, arrived at this very conclusion, noting that the taste of a wine can be influenced by conditions including light, sound, mood and atmosphere. Therefore, the same wine can taste better - fruitier, less bitter or acidic - on holiday than at home! Similar research (Spence, C., & Wang, Q. (2015). Wine and music (II): can you taste the music? Modulating the experience of wine through music and sound. Flavour, 4(33), 14) also suggested that our perception of taste could be strongly influenced by music.

Wine and music

Several years ago, I attended an experiment where a number of wine professionals tasted the same wine twice, served in a blackened wine glass so we wouldn't be influenced by the colour of the wine, while listening to two pieces of music. The first was discordant, harsh and difficult to listen to. The second was more melodic, mellow and easy on the ear. Everyone agreed that the acidity in the wine felt more pronounced while listening to the first piece of music, whereas the same wine seemed fruitier and smoother with the second. It turned out the wine was a dry German Riesling.

So, was I affected this time by Languedoc vibrations too? Did I pick up different characteristics in the wines when listening to different pieces of music? Was I influenced by my own feelings associated with the music? 🎸 🎷 👩 ‍ 🎤

The wine tasted blind was Domaine de l'Aster Trescol 2022 and my conclusions were:-
  1. 'Live Forever' by Oasis - wine seemed less balanced and a little edgy. Hmmm!
  2. 'Old Town Road' by Lil Nas X - the wine felt fruitier and more enjoyable with a slight savoury aspect.
  3. 'Holiday' by Confidence Man - the mouthfeel was softer and more rounded.

Perhaps I was also affected by the order in which I heard each music clip when trying the wine. Yet, both myself and my colleagues felt the influence that music had on our appreciation of the same wine tasted under different conditions.

The Languedoc wines

… and what about the wines at the free-pour tasting?

Favourite whites

Clos Constantin Strate