ABSTRACT

A study in which a Gutturnio red wine (2015 vintage) has been aged inside ORAC-like Tonneau barrels has been recently carried out. This ageing methodology is unconventional being not used before by the winemaking industry. It is the first attempt ever to improve the quality of a liquid substance. such as a wine. by the use of an ORAC-like apparatus. The wine was treated by 4.46 years of unconventional ageing that followed 3.11 years of traditional ageing in standard Tonneau barrels. Total ageing was 7.57 years. Orgone energy field, pH, and taste-olfactive indicators were monitored during the whole unconventional part of the process. Similar Gutturnio wines that followed standard ageing only were considered as control. An increase of the orgone field of +20.2% (Experimental Life Energy Meter, Heliognosis LM4) and a decrease of pH of -9.8 % was found at the end of the unconventional ageing for the treated 2015 Gutturnio wine when compared to the control Gutturnio wines.

As to the taste-olfactive properties, the unconventionally-aged 2015 Gutturnio red wine progressively lost part of its alcoholic aggressiveness being much softer and more pleasant to the palate. It thus did not show its true age, being seemingly younger. Besides, if allowed to air for a few hours, or even for some days, the taste dramatically improved with a higher palatability, less acidity and a less sharp flavor combined with more spicy notes. The above variations were not found in the control Gutturnio wines however.

Some wines can have the presence of a white surface film and this is typical of some yeasts spoiling. When these wines are exposed for some days to concentrated orgone energy (inside a standard ORAC) the films disappeared, thus making the treatment appear to be a natural antiseptic.
Exposing a Gutturnio red wine to high concentration of orgone energy for a prolonged time seemed to accrue various benefits. Improvements in orgone energy content, pH, and taste-olfactive properties, and the disappearing of white surface film were observed when compared to control wines of the same style and provenance.

INTRODUCTION

Ageing of wine can determine changes in wine quality and monetary value. Many factors are involved in ageing but the most important are, the type of wine (1), storage conditions (2), and capital investment. Nowadays, wine ageing is traditionally carried out in oak wooden casks. First historical evidence of wine ageing can be found in the Romanesque period. Romans appreciated wines that ha been allowed to age. Wines were stored in sealed earthenware jars or amphorae and left therein for 15-20 years, and sometimes for decades before they were considered mature. Galen, the Greek physicist, reported that artificial ageing methods such as heating or smoking wines have been used at the time that might produce wines with the same qualities of a naturally-aged wine with the advantage to be available in a shorter time. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the appreciation of aged wines disappeared for about 10 centuries. In the 17th century, with the introduction of corks and glass bottles, the ageing in bottle was considered and pioneered in England. In the same period, other methods were developed or re-considered such as i) the addition of spirits to a partially fermented wine to produce fortified wines; ii) the systematic topping up (3) of a solera system (4); or iii) the heating of the wine.

Today, natural wine ageing in wooden barrels or in bottles is the methodology of choice. However, artificial wine ageing is also practised. We can find in this latter group different methods such as i) exposing wine to oxygen or extremes temperatures; ii) shaking it to encourage effects of dissolved oxygen; or iii) exposing it to radiation or ultra-sonic or magnetic waves. Lately, unusual and experimental storage conditions such as i) storing bottles of wine under water; ii) at high elevation; or iii) at a variety of temperatures and humidity has been also considered for ageing (5).

During ageing a variety of indicators is monitored in order to evaluate the quality of the wine and its evolution over time. Physical-chemical parameters (acidity, pH, tannins, and alcohol) and organoleptic attributes (colour, odor, taste and feel) are the most important. To the best of authors’ knowledge the content of orgone energy or bio-energy (6) of a wine is not monitored and studied, neither during the ageing, nor in any phase of the full process. Thus, it would not be possible to say whether, from fermentation to the final product, the orgone energy content changes radically or if the field radiations produced by the wine molecules normally change to any great degree. It is well-known that orgone energy might be accumulated or its concentration increased in respect to that available in the outside environment, by using particular apparatuses, called orgone accumulators (ORAC). These devices are similar to a box made of alternated layers of organic (generally raw sheep wool, raw cotton, glass wool, fibreglass, and rock wool), and inorganic (generally galvanised iron sheet, stainless steel wool, and steel or iron sheet or screen) materials. The outermost layer is organic, and the innermost inorganic (7). By such devices a living organism, or liquid or solid substances, if systematically and continuously exposed to the concentrated field available at its interior, might increase its orgone energy content, and hence the orgone energy field which it irradiates.

According to Reich, orgone energy or bio-energy can improve overall health conditions and he suggested a bio-energetic charging of the organism, through the systematic use of an ORAC, in order to maintain in good state the immune system and overall health (8). Such charging might be done also indirectly through the intake of foods or liquids with a high orgone content or which have been orgone-charged inside an ORAC.

Ageing of wines inside ORACs has never been attempted. It was thought whether this kind of ageing might increase the orgone energy content and the related field of the aged wine similarly to what has been observed when charging other fluids or granular solids inside ORACs. Tap water continuously kept inside a 10-fold small ORAC for 474.5 hours observed an increase of the orgone energy field (Heliognosis LM4 meter), of +7.8 %; while sea water kept inside for 527 hours had an increase of 99.3 % (9).

The present study has been carried out to verify whether an ORAC, built according to the criteria developed by Reich, could increase the orgone or bio-energetic charge of a red wine kept in the interior for ageing for a certain period of time. In parallel, some chemical, tasting and olfactive properties were also monitored to check whether the above ageing might have some influence on those properties. Such study might be considered an example of a systematic use of orgone devices to improve the orgone or bio-energetic properties of a fluid, and it is the first ever to consider a red wine and an ORAC-like apparatus. Such kind of ageing of a wine can be considered unconventional and included in the group of the natural ageing methodologies in that no changes of environmental parameters affecting ageing, such as temperature, humidity, pressure, oxygen, and secondary magnetic waves were made. All the above parameters were those of the cellar ambient for the whole period of ageing.

For the experimental process, the variation done in the wooden barrels traditionally used was the introduction of layers of organic and inorganic materials within the barrel. The innermost container of the wine barrel was also of stainless steel. This was done in order to meet the standards of an ORAC. This differs from the deliberate use of single material structures such as concrete, stainless steel or other inert materials used today for wine fermentation and ageing vessels. These conventional structures are not layered and they replace totally the use of wood in the making of the tanks.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In the present investigation a Gutturnio red wine, produced by La Pietra winery, Castell’Arquato, Italy, was considered. The wine comes from the 2015 vintage. It is a still wine, made by 60% Barbera and 40% Croatina, without added sulphites, not filtered or clarified. It had been fermented by the submerged cap process with indigenous yeasts and left to macerate with its peels. The wine was never subjected, from pressing to bottling, to any mechanical or chemical treatment.

Pictures in figure 1 show the Barbera and Croatina vineyard (left in the figure), and one of the authors (WV) with a grape of Croatina (right in the figure).

Figure 1

The ORAC has been built by converting two Tonneau (staves of French oak) with capacity of 600 L each in which three alternated layers of organic and inorganic materials were added. The top and bottom side of the wooden barrels were similarly adapted. A cylindrical tank made of stainless steel for food and with capacity of 300 L has been inserted in the innermost part of each barrel and served as a container for the wine to be aged. As a whole, the sequence of materials characterizing the ORAC barrels from the outer to the inner layer was as follows: durmast wood (outermost), steel wool, sheep wool, steel wool, sheep wool, and food stainless steel (innermost). The lid of each barrel was equipped with an air chamber to maintain the barrel vacuum-sealed.

Pictures in figure 2 show a top-view (top left picture) and a side-view (top right) of one of the two ORAC barrels with the organic/inorganic layers, and the stainless steel tank; the two ORAC barrels with the lid during the ageing phase (bottom left); and the identification card reporting the type of ageing attached to the ORAC barrel (bottom right).

Figure 2

The cellar in which the 2015 Gutturnio wine has been aged was in the underground of the La Pietra winery premises. Temperatures of the cellar were ranging between 13 °C during wintertime, and 20 °C during summertime. Humidity was about 70 % throughout the year.

Before being racked in the ORAC (Tonneau) barrels the 2015 Gutturnio wine underwent traditional ageing for 1134 days or 3.11 years in standard Tonneau with capacity of 600 L each (10). At the end of December 2018 the wine has been moved in the ORAC barrels for ageing and kept therein for more than four years till beginning of June 2023 (11). As a whole, the duration of the unconventional ageing of the wine in the ORAC barrels was 1627 days or 4.46 years. If we consider also the ageing in the conventional wooden barrels, the ageing the 2015 Gutturnio wine underwent was in total 2761 days or 7.57 years the majority of which (58.9 %) done inside the ORAC barrels.

A few days before the wine was moved from the standard Tonneu wooden barrels to the ORAC barrels, and at regular steps during the whole unconventional ageing period, the orgone or bio-energetic field, pH, and tasting-olfactive properties of the 2015 Gutturnio wine were monitored on samples taken from the ORAC barrels (12). The orgone or bio-energetic field irradiated by the wine was measured by the Experimental Life Energy Meter (LM4) (Heliognosis, Canada) (13); pH by a proper sensor (HI98107, Hanna, Usa) (14); and the taste-olfactive properties by a direct assessment by one of the authors (WV). At the end of the unconventional ageing (ORAC barrels) orgone (bio-energetic) field, pH and taste-olfactive properties for a Gutturnio wine from different vintages were also determined. These latter wines have been produced by the same winery with the same blend of Barbera and Croatina grapevine, subjected to the same processes and aged in standard Tonneau barrels thus following a traditional procedure only (15). These wines have been considered as control. The vintages considered were 2010, 2011, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS

Data regarding orgone (bio-energy) field, pH, and taste-olfactive indicators obtained during the monitoring phases are reported here below.

Orgone (bio-energy) field

Graph in figure 3 shows the behaviour of the orgone field irradiated by the 2015 Gutturnio wine during the unconventional ageing in the ORAC barrels (blue squares and blue dashed line), and that related to the control Gutturnio wines (black squares and black dashed line) (16). The parameter indicative of the orgone field irradiated by the wine sample, called OFG0.65, was measured in LMU/g. See (17) for explanation of these units and terms.

From the graph in figure 3 it can be observed the trend of the orgone (bio-energy) field of the 2015 Gutturnio wine against time is positive, while the control wines has a flat or near horizontal trend that does not show any variation versus time. At the end of the ageing inside the ORAC barrels (after 1627 days or 4.46 years of orgone charging) the 2015 Gutturnio wine observed an increase of +32.0 % when compared to the orgone field the wine had just before the ageing in the ORAC barrels began. Besides, an increase of +20.2 % at the end of the unconventional ageing period when compared to the orgone field of the control wines was also found (18).

Figure 3

pH

The behaviour of pH for both groups of wine is shown is figure 4. It can be observed from the graph that the trend is very similar for the two groups, even though the 2015 Gutturnio wine that underwent unconventional ageing inside the ORAC barrels (blue square and blue dashed line) observed a slight reduction against time. pH of the control Gutturnio wines was found to be practically constant versus ageing time (19). At the end of the unconventional ageing (after 1627 days or 4.46 years) the 2015 Gutturnio wine observed a decrease of -9.8 % when compared to the pH the wine had just before the ageing in the ORAC barrels began.

Figure 4

Taste-olfactive indicators

The taste-olfactive monitoring, carried out during unconventional ageing inside the ORAC barrels, highlighted that the 2015 Gutturnio wine, when compared to the control Gutturnio wines subjected to traditional ageing, progressively lost part of its alcoholic aggressiveness being much softer and more pleasant to the palate, thus not showing its true age being seemingly younger. Besides, if allowed to air for a few hours or even for some days, the taste dramatically improved with a higher palatability, less acidity and a less sharp flavor, and with more spicy notes. During ageing in the ORAC barrels the color tended to become more crystal clear and a full red color (20):

“… lo senti che è un vino d’annata, lo senti che ha fatto un lungo affinamento in botte, lo senti che ha un corpo strutturato, una persistenza decisa e un bouquet ampio, ma senti anche un vino “giovane”, un vino VIVO, spigoloso ma corposo al contempo. Si capisce che parliamo di un vino con un potenziale di invecchiamento indeterminato, un vino che non potrebbe che trarre beneficio dallo scorrere del tempo, eppure è già pronto, completo, appagante.”

“… you feel that it’s a vintage wine, you feel that underwent a long refinement in barrel, you feel that it has a structured body, a remarkable persistence and a wide bouquet, but you feel also it is a “young” wine, an ALIVE wine, sharp but at the same time robust. You understand we are talking about a wine with an indefinite ageing potential, a wine that could only draw benefit from the passing of time, and yet is already ready, complete and satisfying.”

White surface film

A last point that was observed during the unconventional ageing of the 2015 Gutturnio wine inside the ORAC barrels is related to the white film that might form on the surface of the wine due to the presence of particular yeasts, such as Candida Mycoderma, Pichia or Hansenula. This whitish film, typically resembling an aggregation of many small flowers, might form in the barrels during the ageing and it can be normally prevented by a scrupulous cleaning and hygiene of the premises and of the barrels, and by adding antiseptic substances on the surface of the wine inside the barrels that block the action of the yeasts and thus the formation process of the whitish film. Besides, the same formation might form also in the bottled product. This phenomenon was never observed on the 2015 Gutturnio wine aged inside the ORAC barrels nor in the wine bottled after the end of the unconventional ageing even though the wine was no longer kept inside any orgone apparatus. This was an unexpected result in that it was not part of the research.

Some tests were then planned and carried out on other wines in order to get confirmation of the above observations. Pictures in figure 5 show a bottle of Ortrugo wine (21) of 2022 vintage where on the surface of the wine the typical whitish film could be observed (marked by a white circle in the picture on the left in the figure); and the same bottle of Ortrugo wine after being kept for 10 days in a 5-fold human-sized ORAC where no traces of the previous film could be seen (right in the figure) (22). Bottles of the same Ortrugo wine with the whitish film kept in the cellar (subjected to no orgone treatment) still showed it after 10 days. The orgone-treatment has been able to dissolve all the whitish film that was visible on the surface of the wine before putting the bottles inside the ORAC.

Figure 5

DISCUSSION

A research study has been done to verify whether ageing a red wine inside a container structured as an ORAC, where a higher orgone energy concentration compared to the outside environment is available, can increase its orgone energy field and content and improve its characteristics. The red wine considered for the study is a Gutturnio, a typical red wine of the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy, that must be drunk within 1-2 years. Generally, the wine is not aged more than 2 years even if, sometimes, ageing can last up to 6 years.
In our study the Gutturnio red wine was left ageing inside ORAC (Tonneau) barrels for 4.47 consecutive years. The so-called unconventional ageing followed a period of 3.11 years of traditional ageing inside standard Tonneau barrels. The orgone field irradiated by the wine at the end of the unconventional ageing was higher (+30.2 %) than that when the process began (blue dotted line in figure 2). That might mean the wine increased its orgone energy field by acquiring an amount of orgone energy from the inside of the ORAC structure to which it was permanently exposed. This result is in line with what was observed by Maglione in experiments where liquids, such as tap or sea water, were left inside standard ORACs for about 20 days. In all the tested cases an increase of the orgone energy content of the fluid (Heliognosis LM4) varying from +7.8 % to 99.3 %, was observed (23).

A comparison with control Gutturnio wines of the same style showed that the orgone energy field irradiated by them was lower (-20.2 %) and constant versus time (black dotted line in figure 2). The above results might confirm the assumption that liquids of different natures, when kept inside ORACs, increase their orgone energy concentration. This is supported by the fact Gutturnio wines that are not kept inside ORAC barrels and therefore not exposed to any field characterized by an orgone concentration higher than that of the outside environment, are not showing any variation of their orgone energy field and content even though ageing lasted for about 13 years (24).

Orgone energy field of a 2021 vintage Gutturnio wine produced by another winery following conventional chemical treatments and traditional ageing was also measured. Generally, selling price of such wines is low denoting medium-low qualities of the product. It was found that the value of the orgone field irradiated by the wine was 0.44 LMU/g (25). This value is lower than those found for the control Gutturnio wines (around -34.1 %) (26), and much lower (-61.6 %) than that found for the 2015 Gutturnio wine at the end of the unconventional ageing inside the ORAC barrels (27).
It can be inferred the 2015 Gutturnio wine, when stored inside ORAC barrels for ageing, might benefit from it and increase its orgone energy content. The increase of internal orgone energy at the end of the ageing process might be understood also as an increase of the healthy qualities of the wine. This increase was not observed for the control wines, and even less for the wine produced by using chemical substances or additives to regulate or adjust wine parameters or indicators.

pH is an indicator impacting on many important factors such as how wine states, looks and lasts. Wine is acidic, with pHs generally ranging between 2.9 and 4.2. Wines with a lower pH are less hospitable to harmful bacteria, age better, and have a clearer, brighter colour. Wines with higher pH values tend to taste flat, look dull, and be more susceptible to bacterial spoilage and growth of Brettanomyces sp. yeast (28). There are also negative effects on colour stability. Indeed, wines with low pH values are characterized by a higher hydrogen ion concentration that increases the effectiveness of the molecular form of sulfur dioxide (SO2) as antimicrobial. High pH (>3.5) and low molecular SO2 encourage the formation of undesirable volatile compounds, such as mousey off-flavours via lactic acid bacteria (due to the presence of as Lactobacillus sp. and Pediococcus sp). (29). Besides, at low pH values, the high concentration of hydrogen ions forces the pigment molecule into a form with a positive charge and a bright red color. As pH increases red wine passes from bright to purplish red and finally to a dull brownish red. Therefore, an optimal pH level is not only necessary for wine stability and microbiological equilibrium, but is also directly linked to wine colour and sensory properties.

In our study the pH of the 2015 Gutturnio wine before the unconventional ageing inside the ORAC barrels began was on the average 3.22, while at the end of the unconventional ageing process it was 2.90. This pH reduction was not obtained by any acidification method currently available such as chemical, physical and microbiological acidification (30). pH reduction was simply the result of the exposure of the 2015 Gutturnio wine to the high concentrated field of orgone energy available inside the ORAC barrels during the unconventional ageing period. It has been a natural reduction occurred in a period of 4.46 years.

However, despite the above, we can only speculate about the mechanisms regulating the relationship between orgone energy and wine chemical compounds, and also temperature and humidity of the cellar that might have produced such pH decrease. Therefore, this relationship remains unknown and opens a window for further studies. Accordingly, the lower pH and thus the increased hydrogen ions concentration in the wine made the percentage of the SO2 in the molecular form increase thus activating a higher antimicrobial effect. Noteworthy, the SO2 concentration in the 2015 Gutturnio wine is that typical of the wine since no sulfur compounds of any form have been added artificially into the wine during the whole process.

As to the color, we observed during the unconventional ageing the coloration passed from a flatness and dullness red to a brighter red. This might be thought as the effect of the pH decrease. This is in agreement with what is reported in the literature where a reduction of the pH in red wines is concomitant with the increase of the brightness of the red coloration due to a change of the pigment tannins molecules that turn into a form characterized by a positive charge and a bright red color (31).

Another effect of the lowering of the pH can be found in the tasting. It was found the wine tended to have at the end of the unconventional ageing a younger taste for its age. Indeed, the true age of the wine seemed to be difficult to determine being seemingly younger from the taste than from its actual age. This is in full agreement with what reported in the literature (32). Besides, it was found the wine was much softer and pleasant to the palate whose change might be addressed again to the reduction of the pH. Since the 2015 Gutturnio wine has not been clarified nor filtered, it is characterized by a greater quantity of phenols and tannins compared to that of wines chemically clarified by bentonite, fish jelly or casein. Filtration in these chemically-treated wines is done subsequently so as to eliminate deposits. However, in the same filtration process some tannins and phenols may also be eliminated from the wine. Phenols are responsible for the color and taste changes during wine ageing. As the content of phenols is higher in the 2015 Gutturino wine, it might be hypothesized that the phenolics, (wherein phenol is the basic building block) by interacting with the orgone energy inside the ORAC barrels, might have been gradually converted to the various types of derivatives (including pigmented tannins responsible for the change of the color).

pH also might have contributed to speed up this change. The above phenomenon was not observed in the control Gutturnio wines where, pH, color and taste indicators did not show an appreciable change over time.

There was a further observation regarding the 2015 Gutturnio wine. After the conclusion of the unconventional ageing, if exposed to air or left aerating with the bottle open (from some hours to few days) the taste significantly improved. There was a higher palatability, less acidity, a less sharp flavor nad more spicy notes. Generally, aerating a wine for a few hours before serving might be considered beneficial by some consumers. Exposing the wine to the oxygen of the air might be encouraging the development of the wine’s bouquet, in that the wine begins to give off other compounds (33). However, other authors believe the action of oxygen dissolved in a sound wine when ready to serve is detrimental and that the longer the aeration, the more diffuse its aroma and less marked its sensory attributes. According to this latter view, from the moment the wine is exposed to air some of its sensory impressions may be lost. And this can be observed most in fragile wines as they can withstand oxygen for only few minutes before succumbing to oxidation (34). This is a typical behavior of wines that have been subjected to physical and chemical processes in their whole making process.

The above considerations cannot be applied to the 2015 Gutturnio wine. Following unconventional ageing it was found that the longer the aerating period, the better its sensory qualities. There is no explanation for this phenomenon. What has been observed is going against the accepted practices. It seems the sensory qualities of the wine are changing towards a better picture the longer the exposure to oxygen, in contrast to conventionally aged wines.

A last phenomenon that has been observed is related to the formation of the white film on the surface of the wine due to the spoiling of some species of yeasts, the most common being Candida mycoderma, which requires oxygen for their characteristic growth and metabolism. The phenomenon might begin with the formation of small islands of a thin film on the surface of wines tanks or barrels that are not completely full and then can develop into a creamy to grey, dense biomass. Development of the white surface film can occur also on the surface of bottled wines. Generally, the white surface film forms at temperatures above 15 °C. Formation of such films on the surface of the 2015 Gutturnio wine, aged inside the ORAC barrels, was never observed. This was so even though cellar temperature in certain periods of the year was well above 15 °C. Indeed, in the summertime it reached values as high as 20 °C. Besides, the formation of the white surface film was not seen even in the bottled Gutturnio wine after the conclusion of the unconventional ageing inside the ORAC barrels.

In a successive separate experiment we observed that such a white surface film that had formed in bottled Ortrugo wine disappeared completely after exposing for some days the bottled wine to high orgone energy concentrations inside standard ORACs. No variation was instead found in the bottles that remained in the cellar (not subjected to the orgone treatment). Keeping a bottled wine that has the white surface film in an ORAC for some days might benefit from the charging. The by-product of the degradation of the yeasts seemed to be reversed and eliminated in a relatively short time. As a consequence, it might be also argued the unconventional ageing of the 2015 Gutturnio wine inside the ORAC barrels might have both prevented the formation of the whitish film (during ageing) and ensured that it never formed in the bottled product even if the product was no longer kept inside an orgone apparatus. Therefore, the inhibiting action of orgone or bio-energetic charging on film-forming yeasts might last longer than the charging alone inside the ORAC barrels in that no formation of the white surface film was seen thereafter in the bottled wine. Accordingly, if the above results are confirmed by further research, orgone charging might be considered also a natural antiseptic, a valid and easy-to-use, and cheaper alternative to the normally used antiseptic substances by enologists such as allyl isothiocyanate or similar.

CONCLUSION

A research study was done to examine the influence of ORAC-like barrels on the quality of a Gutturnio red wine (2015 vintage) left to age therein for a certain period of time. This study is the first ever to have been done on a liquid and on a wine in particular. The ageing methodology can be classified as unconventional being based on an apparatus not typical of the wine industry. The following are the most important conclusions drawn from the study:

i. An increase of the orgone energy (bio-energy) field irradiated by, and therefore of the orgone energy content of the 2015 Gutturnio red wine was observed during the ageing inside ORAC (Tonneau) barrels compared to Gutturnio wines of the same style following traditional ageing in standard Tonneau barrels that were considered as control.
ii. A fair decrease of the average pH was observed during ageing inside ORAC (Tonneau) barrels. The behaviour of the average pH for the control Gutturnio red wines (subjected to traditional ageing) remained instead practically constant versus time.
iii. An improvement of the sensory qualities of the 2015 Gutturnio wine aged inside ORAC (Tonneau) barrels was observed. This variation can be intended as the consequence of the interaction of the 2015 Gutturnio red wine with the orgone energy available inside the ORAC barrels that affected pH and in turn taste-olfactive properties. This variation was not observed in the control Gutturnio wines where the above indicators remained practically unchanged.
iv. Sensory attributes significantly improved when the 2015 Gutturnio red wine, after the conclusion of the unconventional ageing in the ORAC (Tonneau) barrels, was left aerating inside the open bottle from few hours to some days. This is against what has been generally reported in the literature for red wines left in contact for some time to oxygen where sensory attributes worsen against time due to oxidation (34).
v. Wines with white surface film, typical of some yeasts spoiling, when exposed for some days to concentrated orgone energy inside a standard ORAC disappeared thus making the treatment a natural antiseptic.

As a whole exposing a Gutturnio red wine for a certain period of time to concentrated orgone energy fields in ORAC-like (Tonneau) barrels increases its orgone energy content, decreases pH and improves sensory indicators. Besides, it has been also observed exposition may have antiseptic qualities.

Being a pilot study, more research is needed to confirm the above results both on wines of the same style, and on wines of different style and provenance. In addition, geography parameters such as temperature, altitude, types of soil, place where the grapes are grown and how they are able to ripen should be also considered. Given that the Gutturnio red wine in this study was never subjected to artificial or chemical treatments during the whole production process, from pressing to bottling, wines subjected to chemical treatments in the production process should also be considered.

Co-Author

This article was co-authored by Mr. Walter Vioni.
Vioni, a third generation winemaker, leads a winery located in Castell’Arquato, Italy. Since 2017 he has been applying Reich’s studies in viticulture and wine-making processes. Presently, orgone-based methodologies are used throughout the whole wine-making process, from grapevine cultivation, to crushing, and from fermentation to ageing and final bottling.

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank Leon Southgate for suggestions in the writing of this paper.

Notes and References

1) Not all wines might benefit from extended ageing. Generally, the majority of wine sold today is designed to be drunk within one or two years. Only a small percentage of wines, about 3-5 %, is meant for extended ageing. Even amongst finer wines, different wines mature at different rates, according to individual vintage characteristics, their exact provenance, and how they were made. Nowadays, barrel ageing for wines of any colour play a part in the life cycle of the wine. In general, the lower a wine’s pH, the longer it is capable of evolving. Amongst reds the higher the level of flavour compounds and phenolics, the longer it is capable of being aged.
2) Storing conditions can affect the rate at which wine ages. The lower the temperature, the slower the maturation. Conversely ageing can be speed up by stripping a young wine of its solids and by storing it in warmer conditions. In general, the more slowly a wine matures, the greater the complexity of the flavor compounds that go to make up its bouquet. It is also generally accepted that the smaller the bottle size, the faster its contents mature as a consequence both of the bottling process and of any possible oxygen ingress via the cork seal during ageing.
3) Topping up is the operation by which the lost wine through evaporation in any wooden container is generally replaced by wine of the same provenance since the wooden container should be kept all the time full or nearly full.
4) Solera is a system of fractional blending used in some regions of Spain, mostly Andalucia, with the aim to maintain the consistency of the characteristics of wine aged in the barrels closest to the floor from which the final blend was customarily drawn.
5) Robinson J, Cheynier V, Lavigne V, Ageing, in Harding J and Robinson J (Editors), The Oxford Companion to Wine, Oxford University Press, 2023, pages 5-8.
6) For more details about orgone energy and the identity or similarity between orgone energy and bio-energy see the introductory chapter in Maglione R, Piergentili L, Temperature and Electric Measurements on an Organism Exposed to a Concentrated Orgone Energy Field, Journal of Psychiatric Orgone Therapy, May 02, 2022.
7) For more information about orgone accumulators see Reich W, The Orgone Energy Accumulator. Its Scientific and Medical Use, The Wilhelm Reich Foundation, Maine, Usa, 1951; and DeMeo J, The Orgone Accumulator Handbook: Construction Plans, Experimental Use and Protection Against Toxic Energy, Natural Energy Works, Ashland, Oregon, 2007.
8) Reich W, The Orgone Energy Accumulator. Its Scientific and Medical Use, The Wilhelm Reich Foundation, Maine, Usa, 1951, pages 27-44.
9) Maglione R, Measuring Orgone Energy, unpublished manuscript, January 31, 2024.
10) Traditional ageing started on November 15, 2015, and lasted till December 23, 2018.
11) 2015 Gutturnio wine was moved inside the ORAC barrels on December 23, 2018, and taken out to bottle it on June 06, 2023.
12) The monitoring was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, in the period between January 22, 2020, and September 22, 2021, no measurement was done.
13) The orgone field meter, now the life energy meter or LM4 instrument was developed by Reich to measure the orgone or bio-energetic field irradiated by living organism, including human beings; and by liquid and solid substances. In the 2010s the Canadian company Heliognosis started manufacturing it and commercialization took place in 2013. For details see Reich W, The Cancer Biopathy. Volume II of the Discovery of the Orgone, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, pages 147-150; and www.heliognosis.com. All the measurements of the orgone (bio-energy) field irradiated by each wine sample were done with the same weather conditions, i.e. in clear days. This was done in order to avoid any interference of different weather patterns on the orgone energy field irradiated by the wine samples (see Reich W, Meteorological Functions in Orgone-Charged Vacuum Tubes. Preliminary Communication, Orgone Institute Press, New York, Usa, 1950, pages 192-193).
14) All pH measurements were done in the same place at a constant temperature. However, the instrument was equipped with a temperature sensor and the pH value could automatically be compensated for in case of sharp temperature variations.
15) Duration of the (standard) ageing of the control wines inside the Tonneau barrels was around 3 years. Then, the wines were bottled and left to age in the bottles.
16) The squares refer to the data measured by the LM4 device, while the dashed lines show the non-linear regression of the measured data by a power law equation.
17) OFG0.65 is the acronym of Orgone Field Gradient, or the irradiated orgone field per unit of weight measured by the LM4 instrument (Heliognosis, Canada) on 0.65 g of Gutturnio wine sample. The unit of measurement is given by Life Meter Unit (LMU) per gram. Such parameter indicates the amount of orgone (bio-energy) irradiated by one gram of Gutturnio wine and is directly proportional to its orgone (bio-energy) content. Details on the measurement methodology are reported in Maglione R, Measuring Orgone Energy, unpublished manuscript, January 31, 2024. In the manuscript a way to standardize the measurement of the orgone energy field irradiated by liquid and granular solid substances (granulometry < 2.0 mm) is proposed. The aim is to use the LM4 instrument as a device to measure a wide range of orgone energy fields from the lowest ones, available in open and simple orgonotic systems such as the environment, to the most complex and closed orgonotic systems such as those emanated by a living organism. A similar attempt was already done in the 1970s by the Swiss physicist Stark that designed, manufactured and then commercialised an instrument, the Marah Orgonotester Fluidometer, that could measure a wide range of orgone energy fields emanated by both closed and open orgonotic systems. The physical principle on which the measurements were based was the Lorentz force that Stark thought to be identified with Reich’s orgone energy. Even though this similarity was questionable (see for example Blasband RA, The Orgonotester: Preliminary Report. A New Device for Measuring Orgone Energy Charge in the Atmosphere, Journal of Orgonomy, Vol 21, N° 2, 1987) the variation of orgone energy, as quantified by the variation of the Lorentz force, paralleled that measured by Reich by using other methodologies such as the electroscope or the Temperature Orgone Versus Temperature measurement (T0-T). The unit of measurement was set by Stark to be OD, a shortening for Reichenbach’s Odic Force, that was directly proportional to the Lorentz force. Unfortunately, the commercialisation of the apparatus was discontinued some years later and today it is no longer available and has an historical value only.
18) Percentage calculations were done considering the equations of the power law regression curves.
19) Percentage calculations were done considering the equations of the power law regression curves.
20) Sargentoni A, Il Vino Orgonico: la Storia di Walter Vioni, 28 giugno 2023, https://winetalesmagazine.com/blendnews.
21) Ortrugo is a white wine consisting of 100 % white grape, autochthonous of the hills of Piacenza, Italy. It has been harvested on September 2022, fermented for 15 days, and bottled on April 2023.
22) The human-sized ORAC consisted of 5 alternated layers of galvanized iron sheet (inorganic material) and raw sheep wool (organic material).
23) Maglione R, Measuring Orgone Energy, unpublished manuscript, January 31, 2024.
24) Control Gutturnio red wine vintage 2010 was first aged in standard Tonneau barrels for 3 years, and then in glass bottles for the remaining 10 years.
25) Maglione R, ORAC-charged Gutturnio Red Wine Experiment, Internal Report, February 15, 2024.
26) As a comparison value, the average value of the OFG0.65 related to all the control Gutturnio wines was considered (OFG0.65, average = 0.59 LMU/g).
27) The OFG0.65 value at the end of the unconventional ageing of the 2015 Gutturnio wine (7.57 years) was 0.711 LMU/g.
28) AAVV, Winemaking With High pH, High TA and High Potassium Fruit, Grapegrower & Winemaker, October 2018, Issue 657.
29) Payan C, Gancel AL, Jourdes M, Christmann M, Teissedre PL, Wine Acidification Methods: a Review, OENO One, International Viticulture and Enology Society, Volume 57-3, 2023, pages 113-123.
30) Payan C, Gancel AL, Jourdes M, Christmann M, Teissedre PL, ibid , 2023.
31) Thomson Matt, pH, in Harding J and Robinson J (Editors), The Oxford Companion to Wine, Oxford University Press, 2023, pages 556-557.
32) Pambianchi D, Aging Potential: Understanding the Lifespan of Your Wine, paper available online at https://winemakermag.com.
33) Harding J, Robinson J, Thomas TQ, Breathing, in Harding J and Robinson J (Editors), The Oxford Companion to Wine, Oxford University Press, 2023, page 107.
34) Harding J, Robinson J, Thomas TQ, Decanting, in Harding J and Robinson J (Editors), The Oxford Companion to Wine, Oxford University Press, 2023, page 231. See also Peynaud E, The Taste of Wine, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 1996.