Sound of Indian Music makes Wines of Israeli Winery Dance

We put on spiritual music like Indian or Tibetan mantra, Peruvian and Brazilian spiritual music or even a little bit of Arabic classical and Hebrew old fashioned music," the winemaker Koren tells EFE.

"We believe that wine is art with music a part of it and in the end we are spiritual people,’ he says, looking at the wine around that has macerated in dozens of wooden barrels exposed all year round to the sound of music.

He is convinced that some musical styles generate frequencies that help the molecules of the water contained in the wine, to be more symmetrical, an effect that causes a chain of chemical connections within the product that makes it much better."Music opens people- it opens the soul and opens the heart and it is the same with the wine," Koren adds.

"It reflects the wine, it reflects the molecules of the water and in the end, makes the wine much better. That's the reason we put music on."

The Israeli winemaker has reportedly proven his theory with several experiments. In one of them he subjected a wine that contained a virus to music therapy, and 80% of the germ disappeared, he claims. In another case, he submitted a wine of the same harvest to a quality test. "The one that had been macerated with music got the best result," while the one that did not receive musical stimuli was considered not as good by experts, he added.

After ten years applying the same method and producing entirely organic wines, Koren turns-over 40,000 bottles annually and sells them in the local market. He focuses on an alternative audience and has a large part of his vineyards in Galilee, a region alongside the occupied territory of Golan Heights, where over 4o% of Israeli vineyards are located.

Galilee, where according to the Christian faith and tradition Jesus Christ turned water into wine, "is ideal for wine production." Its northern side is especially suitable with a height of between 600 and 900 meters above sea level, its abundant rains and cold winter temperatures, says wine expert Ronny Ohayon.

Flanked by its valleys and mountainous geography, it has a land "deep, with a lot of clay", and "a dry climate with low humidity" that has attracted dozens of wineries and has turned the region into the area where wine of the highest quality in the country is produced, according to Ohayon.

The technique is already used selectively by some wineries though with different soothing music based on the individual beliefs. During a visit to the winery Viña Montes in Colchagua Valley, Chile, Arora saw barriques kept in a room where the Gregorian music  was being played 18 hours a day; the divine and soothing music admittedly helps wines mature in serene conditions. There is the belief in the winery that wines age better in the barrel with soft and pleasing music playing.

Iconic Wineries of Chile

In another winery in Chianti Classico area in Italy that I visited several years ago, no one is allowed to talk in the room where Vin Santo rests for years and classic music is played.

Compared to European countries such as France, Italy or Spain, where wine production is steeped in historical tradition, the Israeli wine industry is relatively young. Its beginnings date back to the 1980s and 90s when several farmers started from scratch and launched their wineries.

Average wine consumption in Israel remains one of the lowest in the world but the sector has boomed in the last few decades with 20% of its production exported abroad.

The local industry sold over 3.5 million 9-liter cases during 2018, and generated profits of over €500 million annually. Indian industry on the other hand is of similar nature but has not generated so much of profit, Perhaps, Indian classical music might help some producers bring out better quality wines.

Subhash Arora

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