Music in the vineyard, Altarocca Wine Resort meets the maestro Primiano di Biase in an interview conducted by Alessandra Antonazzo

“Wine production is comparable to musical composition. Just as two musicians with seven notes and various instruments at their disposal can create different works according to their taste and instinct, in the same way, with the same few simple raw materials, it is possible to produce totally different wines.”
It is with these words that Emiliano Sirchia, director of the Altarocca Wine Resort and Cantina Altarocca, describes the poetic encounter between music and organic farming, inspired by the new musical performance of the artistic project “Io suono nell’orto” (I play in the garden), conceived and conducted by maestro Primiano Di Biase.
Sirchia has long been aware that music and nature go hand in hand. A musician originally from Rome, he met Di Biase while performing with him on stages throughout Italy, giving rise to a twenty-year friendship based on discussion and sharing art.
Then came the move to Orvieto with his wife and the ambitious project of starting an agricultural business linked to the organic production of wine and extra virgin olive oil, alongside accommodation services.
It was 2002 when he opened his doors, initially as a small farmhouse nestled among vineyards and olive groves on the border between Umbria and Tuscany.
In 2014, it was transformed into a Wine Resort with 38 rooms and apartments, a large spa, gym, restaurant, and swimming pools, offering its guests an exclusive experience of relaxation, comfort, and authentic flavors.
In this oasis of taste and beauty, everything revolves around the production of Altarocca organic wines and extra virgin olive oil, which are also the stars of a prestigious cosmetics line made specifically with extracts from the grapes and olives produced on site.
From the benefits of wine therapy to the anti-aging properties of oil therapy, through to gastronomic and oenological offerings studied in minute detail, Altarocca Wine Resort offers every guest the opportunity to rejuvenate themselves with massages and pleasant moments of well-being, taking part in a complete and unique sensory experience.
Typical Umbrian cuisine with vegetarian options, excellent tastings, and an extensive wine list, all in the comfortable and rejuvenating atmosphere of the terraces surrounded by olive trees with spectacular views of the surrounding landscape.
“What a sensory experience of this kind has in common with music,” continues the Director of the Wine Resort, “is the care that underlies our offering. Musicians develop different types of sensitivity through the experience of performing and listening to music. The same sensitivity made up of creativity, intuition, and passion that is necessary to produce a good wine, an excellent oil, and an engaging stay.”
With the collaboration of oenologists, agronomists, and the invaluable experience of his cellar master, the entrepreneur often strolls through his vineyards, caressing the leaves.
During the season, careful to channel new ideas and desires into what will be the delicate transition from grape to glass, the founder of Cantina Altarocca makes changes and adjustments to his wines, just as he would rearrange a song, based on personal evolution, taste, and artistic sensibility that is constantly changing over time.
Cantina Altarocca produces six wines and has many new ideas in the pipeline. Wines produced by a master winemaker, never the same over time. Wines in constant evolution, always different. Always alive. And it is in the evocative setting of a vineyard at sunset that multi-instrumentalist Di Biase shaped a wonderful first session of musical improvisation, born from listening to the story of the grapes to which the composition was dedicated.
Blending masterfully with the sounds of nature, inspired by the silence savored at dusk, once again the musical notes found a point of contact with the surrounding environment. Melodies and phrases caressed the vine shoots, penetrating the soil and giving life to a piece that, together with other new performances, will soon be broadcast in the vineyards, delighting customers and visitors strolling among the rows.
The muse behind this musical improvisation session was a vineyard over fifty years old. Delicate and fragile, yet capable of producing excellent organic wine, it needed the loving and invigorating care that only the music played for plants by maestro Di Biase could give it, lending it, like a caress, new poetry and renewed vigor.
A true sensory experience dedicated to sound, well-being, and organic farming.