“Row after row of Sangiovese grapevines cover the hills of Montalcino in Tuscany, where famed Brunello wine is made,” reports Seth Doane on Wednesday (10/12) at CBS News. “But one of these vineyards is a bit different. The grapes here are serenaded all day, every day, by classical music… Said [vintner] Giancarlo Cignozzi … ‘Music can improve the life of the humanity, animals too. But why not the plants?’ … He started pumping Mozart into a section of his vineyard…. He found the vines closer to the music grew bigger and toward the source of the sound…. ‘We monitor the quality of the grapes at the time of the harvest,’ said Ulisse, Giancarlo’s son.… ‘The plants seem more robust. The grapes closer to the speaker have the higher sugar content’ … ‘It’s very difficult to say that plants like classical music—Wagner, Mozart, or whatever you want. What they are able actually to do is to perceive sounds and specific frequencies,’ explained [plant scientist] Stefano Mancuso.… Giancarlo, who’s been serenading his grapes for over a decade, stands by his decision to play Mozart. But Mancuso said they could play many other types of music, even heavy metal.”
Posted October 14, 2016
