Tunes and Wine with Terroir Sonoro

Last week, we had the pleasure of having Juan Jose Ledesma, the brains, talent and creativity behind Sonoro Terroir in Chile, take over the bar at our La Cosecha location. Beforehand, he stopped by Shaw for a quick chat. Here’s our interview with this fascinating human being!

GC: Julio introduced you as the “Musical Enologist.” Why is that?

JJL: More musician than enologist! I’ve played guitar since I was 7 years old. I was semi-professional as a teenager playing rock and blue and jazz. Then I worked as an agronomist for a long time.

 Ëventually I realized that wasn’t making me happy, so I switched to winemaking. I fell in love with the experience, particularly how the final product can produce an emotional response similar to how an audience reacts to music.”

GC: So we know that you play music for the wine. Is it your own music?

JJL: Yes! Each vintage and each wine gets a different composition that I put together and play for it. I like to have the music have a connection to the wine. For instance, for the País, I use musical ideas from traditional music of the area.

GC: Do you release that music to the public?
JJL: Absolutely! Every piece is available through the website and I also have a SoundCloud.

GC: How do you play it for the wine?

JJL: We put a speaker in the barrels. 

GC: Can you explain more about what that does to the wine?

JJL: Of course! It physically affects the lees through the vibrations. It keeps them in suspension, and this releases compounds that only happen when you do it this way.

GC: How long do you keep it in suspension?

JJ: Always in suspension for as long as each individual wine ages. Some are longer, like Perseguidor Malbec, which goes for 12 months. I learned quickly that it's best not to change too many things, so that’s why we leave them in suspension the whole time.”
GC: How’d you come up with the idea?

JJL: I found 150 year old Malbec vines in BioBio. I tried to convince the government to support the growers and these older vines, but they refused. I told myself I had to do something with these grapes. I thought, ‘how do I put these tiny vineyards onto the map of the wine world?’

Around the same time, I was reading about how music and vibrations affect wine, and the effect on customers. I wrote a grant proposal, and the government funded it! They wouldn’t fund the historical part, but music in wine, I guess they liked that.

GC: Can we go back to these speakers in the barrels?  Do you have a picture of this!?

JJL: [Laughing] No, it’s a trade secret! We designed it ourselves. Technically, it's a transducer wrapped in silicone. Same effect as if you took a huge speaker and put it right outside the barrel, but by inverting it.

GC: So cool! Well, we appreciate your time here. Good luck over at Cosecha and thanks for all these insights.

JJL: You’re welcome! Thanks for having me.