Lighting and music can have a "profound" effect on the taste of wine, says study

Drink company Pernod Ricard and Charles Spence, professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University undertook the study, said to be the “world’s largest multisensory experiment,” at the recent Streets of Spain festival in London, which is sponsored by Pernod’s wine brand Campo Viejo.

A pop-up installation housed the experiment, where participants were given a single glass of wine to taste while being exposed to changes in sound and light.

The results showed that changes in such environmental factors can affect the taste of wine by as much as 10% - which in scientific terms, Spence says, is deemed a significant shift.

“We were astonished to see that colour and sound have such a profound effect on the taste of wine,” he said. “We knew an effect was likely, but the results went far beyond what we were hoping for (and) we were able to unequivocally show, for the first time, that colour and sound together have a far greater effect on people’s taste perceptions than light by itself.”

The full findings ​show that red light and sweet music is the ideal combination, increasing enjoyment by as much as 9%; green light and sour music increased freshness and reduced intensity by 14%;red lighting on its own brought out the fruitier notes of the wine and green light on its own brought out the wine’s freshness.

Spence has previously worked with PMA columnist Pete Brown on music and beer tastings.