Wine: in Montalcino, vine rows grow to the notes of Mozart

Vine rows, too, need good music in order to flourish and produce fabulous wine. That’s the belief of a former lawyer, who, just a few kilometres from Montalcino (Siena), has created a singular vineyard where the plants are grown to the rhythm of classical music (Mozart and Vivaldi). The beneficial effect of exposure to the music has also been measured by studies conducted by two Tuscan universities.

This sort of “Mozart wine” grows on the farm named “Paradiso di Frassina” run by a former lawyer from Milan, Carlo Cignozzi, who said goodbye to the courtrooms in order to take up wine-growing. And it is here, amidst Tuscany’s hills, that musical notes play a leading role: Mozart’s music is played among the rows of vines – from which the Brunello wine will be subsequently produced – via fourteen loudspeakers.

Together with the experts from the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Florence and the University of Pisa, Cignozzi is conducting a study dedicated to the effect of music on nature: on his farm the plants of the Sangiovese variety, nurtured with the music of Vivaldi and Mozart, have grown 50 per cent more than normal. But that’s not all. The grapes have ripened early and have not endured the attacks of tiresome parasites. A question of frequencies, according to the experts. A question of harmony, according to Cignozzi. For years the academic world has been studying the relationship between music and nature.

“Music, Mozart’s in particular,” explains Cignozzi, “is useful in the growth of grapevines. The grapes ripen early, have a higher sugar and polyphenol content and low acidity. The plant is sensitive to low frequencies and Mozart’s music was chosen for the Fibonacci sequence, for the gentle, deep harmony that characterises it. In short, I believe in harmony and at the university they believe in frequencies. It’s music against chemistry.” Recognised by the United Nations Environment Programmes as one of a hundred projects for ecological sustainability, Cignozzi’s might soon take root abroad.

Source: intoscana.it