A Duo Like Bottle & Cork

When Riesling Sings

Some wines make a sound before you even taste them. Take Riesling – crisp, fresh, sometimes cheeky. It sounds like an electric guitar accidentally plugged in during a soundcheck: briefly shrill, then brilliant. Anyone drinking Riesling unconsciously hears funk or indie alongside it.

???? The playlist to match:

Arctic Monkeys – I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor

Bilderbuch – Bungalow

Die Ärzte – Westerland

(Try drinking Riesling while listening to Wagner. It ends in chaos – like skydiving and doing your tax return at the same time.)

Bordeaux and the Classics of Classical Music

Bordeaux is the Beethoven symphony of wines. Weighty, profound, sometimes a little too serious for a Tuesday evening. Bordeaux demands an orchestra, a stage, at least one tuxedo in the room.

???? The playlist to match:

Ludwig van Beethoven – Symphony No. 9

Gustav Mahler – The Song of the Earth

Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah

(Anyone who puts on Helene Fischer with Bordeaux should seriously reconsider whether they should still be allowed to drink wine.)

Rosé – the Summer Festival in a Glass

Rosé is the Coachella of wines: young, pink, a little overexcited. No wonder the first sip automatically puts pop or summer hits in your head. Rosé does not work without music – it IS music.

???? The playlist to match:

Beyoncé – Crazy in Love

Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar

Mark Forster – The Day After Tomorrow

(After the third glass, even the neighbours sing along.)

Sparkling Wine – the Drum Machine of Drinks

Sekt, Crémant, Pet-Nat – as long as there are bubbles. Sparkling wine is the percussion in the orchestra of drinks. It turns every Tuesday evening into a Saturday. Some say it goes best with classical music. Nonsense! Sparkling wine goes with everything, as long as there is bass.

???? The playlist to match:

Daft Punk – One More Time

David Guetta – Titanium

Die Fantastischen Vier – Troy

(A glass of estate-produced Sekt plus techno – and you start to think the bubbles are dancing to the beat.)

The Quiet Ballad of Merlot

Merlot is the singer-songwriter of wines. A little melancholic, a little charming. Anyone drinking Merlot soon finds themselves listening to gentle ballads and love songs.

???? The playlist to match:

Ed Sheeran – Perfect

Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why

Tracy Chapman – Baby Can I Hold You

(Perfect for people who suddenly find themselves gazing deep into their corkscrew’s eyes.)

Heavy Metal & Shiraz – When the World Catches Fire

Some wines scream. Shiraz is one of them. Dark, powerful, peppery – a wine that would listen to Slayer if it had headphones. Shiraz goes with guitar riffs, thunderous drumming and the feeling that you really ought to be headbanging by the second glass.

???? The playlist to match:

Metallica – Enter Sandman

Slayer – Raining Blood

Rammstein – Fire at Will!

(Wine that tastes of electric guitar and smells of a barbecue fire.)

Music Helps with Tasting – Wine Helps with Dancing

Wine and music have a secret alliance: music makes wine more approachable, wine makes music more bearable. At wine tastings, soft jazz makes guests say: “Tastes of peach and minerality.” Without music, they would simply observe: “Tastes of… wine.”

And at concerts? Without a glass of wine, nobody notices that the band is actually playing out of tune.

The Verdict: No Wine Without Music, No Music Without Wine

Wine and music belong together like Mick Jagger and tight trousers. One amplifies the other, and sometimes saves it. So open a bottle, put together a playlist – and if the two are in harmony, for a few hours life is exactly as it should be: upbeat, slightly tipsy and definitely not quiet.