Last year, Adrian North of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh published a study concluding that the perception of food and drink is deeply influenced by any background music playing at the moment you raise fork or glass to your mouth. What if this formula were inverted? You see where I’m going with this ... Perhaps certain flavours can enhance your appreciation of certain Christmas songs.
Let’s take Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You as our point of departure. Raised on Long Island, Mariah’s father was African-American and Venezuelan and her mother was Irish-American. She’s absolutely delicious and not exactly what you’d expect, just like this: Théophile Guillon Bourgueil 2013 (£8, nicolas.co.uk).
One of the greatest Christmas songs ever is Santa Baby by the incomparable Eartha Kitt. Eartha knew what she wanted. She asks Santa for a sable under the tree, a 1954 Corvette, a yacht and the deed to a platinum mine. The only drink that could possibly satisfy such extravagant tastes is Champagne Krug Grande Cuvée (£160, selfridges.com)
Who can forget George Michael’s frosted tips and shaggy fringe in the video for Last Christmas? Or the enormous tinsel necklace he sports while drinking red wine and canoodling with friends at a ski chalet? A moment like that calls for something sexy and festive, such as Spice Route 2009 Mourvedre (£10.95, leaandsandeman.co.uk).
When I was growing up, my mother’s favourite Christmas song was Johnny Mathis’ Sleigh Ride. We would ride home from my grandparents’ house while Johnny sang of snuggling like birds of a feather. If you find yourself on a sleigh, the moment calls for hot mulled wine (£3.99, waitrose.com) in a Thermos.
Ten years ago, Lindsay Lohan and the cast of Mean Girls transformed the old favourite Jingle Bell Rock into a new classic. After the girls sang about dancing and prancing in the frosty air, they later ended up at a house party where naughty shooters were the drink of choice. If you’re going that route, make sure you have a tasty bottle of chilled vodka and make sure to make a toast before you take each sip. Try Żubrówka Bison Grass Vodka (£18.00, tesco.com).
Whatever your choice of Christmas music this year, there’s sure to be a beverage to enhance it.
Christian Holthausen is a France-American wine specialist living in London. Twitter: @bosiechampagne
