A Wine With A Slight Taste Of Bach, Some Notes Of Vivaldi & A Zest Of Gluck

I came across this neat article in Le Monde newspaper (in french) about this italian wine-maker, Giancarlo Cignozzi, who came up with the idea of exposing his vineyards to classical music claiming that his crops are growing faster and they are less vulnerable to diseases. Cignozzi, who is the producer of the fine italian red wine el Brunello de Montalcino, found out that his impressions have been confirmed by the experimental work of Professor Stefano Mancuso, an italian expert in vegetal neurobiology, who concluded that "the effects of music or more specifically of sound frequencies on the growth of plants are visible".

Cignozzi says that in winter when his vineyards are hibernating, he uses sacred music of Hayden, Handel, Mozart's Enchanted Flute and a bit of Gluck. In Springtime, when the first leaves start to appear he attacks with baroque music, a lot of Bach and Vivaldi". June and July will be resonating with concertos and symphonies. Finally by the end of August and the beginning of September, period of ultimate growth, this is the time for Tchaïkovski with a 120 instrument orchestra. Thus go by Cignozzi's Four Seasons in the small village of Montalcino. Interesting no?!