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Biodynamic wines - beyond organic?
January 7, 2007

I have read about biodynamic wines before, but never paid much attention. The next encounter was at Greens restaurant, San Francisco. When asked the differences between organic wines and biodynamic wines, our waiter explained to us, “biodynamic wines are organic wines with a voodoo twist.” What?! He further elaborated that the biodynamic wine making process involved dancing barefooted under the moonlight. Though confident he was wildly exaggerating, I was skeptical about biodynamic wines.It was with that suspicion I visited Grgich Hills Winery. Half expecting the pourers wearing tie dye shirts and chanting while pouring wines, I entered into a traditional wine tasting room. Soon I learned that “biodynamics can be broadly defined as working with the energies that create and maintain life.” That still sounded hokey to me. The biodynamic philosophy was developed out of eight lectures given in 1924 by Austrian scientist, educator, and philosopher Rudolf Steiner. It shares quite a few methods with organic farming – no artificial pesticides, herbicides or fungicides. It differs from organic farming in:
·The use of biodynamic soil preparations
·The amount of compost used to enliven the soil (biodynamics uses much smaller quantities)
·The concept of relating four elemental states of matter and following natural rhythms

There are nine biodynamic preparations, one being: “Grated oak bark aged in the skull of a domestic animal. This calcium-rich preparation combats harmful plant diseases and fungal attacks” The other eight preparations are pretty much along the same vein of biodynamic philosophy of balancing animals, plants and minerals. Further more farming events are administered based on lunar and cosmic cycles. That means biodynamic vineyards do not pick on water days during harvest, because lunar and cosmic forces pull water up into the plant, diluting the grapes. Grgrich Hills brochure says that they did not believe that either until 2003 when they harvested during a water day and discovered the juice from those grapes was noticeably less concentrated. What are the advantages of biodynamic wines aside from being organic? The biodynamic vintners believe the wines are more authentic and distinctive, with a stronger sense of terroir (the conditions and characteristics of a specific site).

The Demeter Association (www.demeter-usa.org) is the only recognized biodynamic certification organization in the US. Other high-profile US biodynamic wineries include Quintessa, Viader, Arujo, Robert Sinskey, and Benziger.

For people who buy wine based on points and awards, Grgich Hills Chardonnay 2003 received 91-93 from various wine magazines. As for me, a lay person when it comes to wine, I tried Grgich Hills Fume Blanc 2005 and Zinfandel 2004, both of Napa Valley and liked them both, though I had better Zins before. Though still unconvinced of its true merit, I am going to keep an open mind about biodynamic wines.

Additional sites to explore about biodynamic farming:
http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/biodynamic.html”
http://www.biodynamics.com

CindyW

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