38 | Sonic Ageing
Music to make
booze by... From wineries to whisky distilleries, drinks makers are tuning into the magic of music by serenading their creations as they slumber in their barrels Written by Peter Ranscombe
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tep inside a winery and there are probably sounds that you’d expect to hear – the squeezing of grapes to release their juice, the sloshing of that juice in tanks as it turns into wine, the rolling of barrels down into the cellar to age. But would the skirl of the bagpipes be on that list? The distinctive drone of Scotland’s national instrument is a familiar noise in the cellar at Bruce Jack’s winery in South Africa. Having studied English literature at the University of St Andrews and with strong family connections to Scotland, it’s
perhaps little wonder that Bruce turned to the pipes when he needed to give his wines a little musical encouragement. ‘Making wine is part art and part science,’ explains Bruce. ‘You need to know about physics, and you need to know about organic chemistry.’ Grapes’ skins – along with their seeds and stems – contain tannins, the same substance found in tea that dries your mouth and makes you suck in your cheeks. When red wine is made, the grape juice is left in contact with the black grape skins to extract some of their colour and some of their tannins.
IF YOU PUT YOUR HAND ON THE BARREL YOU CAN ACTUALLY FEEL THE VIBRATIONS
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