It’s not presented by a sommelier, but by the musicians themselves: the unconventional candlelit wine tasting in Chamberí that pairs 5 wines to the rhythms of Beethoven, Mozart, and Vivaldi

Save

Share

Carla Palenzuela

 –  Editor

 ·  October 15, 2026

Add us as a preferred source

The next time you have a glass of wine, you might want to pay attention to more than just its aroma, color, or taste: the background music. Because, even though it might sound like one of those theories that pop up after the second glass, it turns out there’s quite a bit of science behind it. In 2015, researchers at the University of Oxford discovered that participants in a wine tasting perceived the same wine differently depending on the classical music they were listening to. With Debussy, for example, they perceived it as more acidic than with Rachmaninoff. And this isn’t the only study to have found this connection.

Now, this curious connection between the ear and the palate will take center stage on December 19 at the legendary Sala Galileo Galilei with Candlelight Wine: a tasting narrated through music, a new experience that aims to put a fresh spin on the usual wine tastings in Madrid. How? By pairing five wines with classical music pieces performed live by a string quartet. All of this, of course, under Candlelight’s signature candlelight.

A wine tasting set to the music of Vivaldi, Mozart, and Beethoven

What makes this tasting unique is that here, the one calling the shots (and never has that phrase been more apt) isn’t a sommelier, but one of the musicians themselves. He’ll be in charge of presenting each wine and explaining its connection to the accompanying piece—whether because they share certain characteristics or because they contrast with one another.

During the 70-minute experience, the quartet will perform excerpts from Vivaldi’s *The Four Seasons*, Mozart’s Flute Quartet in D Major, and works by Beethoven, Fanny Mendelssohn, and Ravel. It’s a different way to enjoy classical music in Madrid, this time in a venue that has been hosting jazz, flamenco, and singer-songwriter concerts since 1985.

The event will take place on Saturday, December 19, with two sessions at 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. in the Galileo Galilei Hall, just a few minutes from the Canal (lines 2 and 7) and Islas Filipinas (line 7) metro stations. Tickets are now on sale at Fever.