Over recent years, people have become increasingly interested in the ethical production of food and drink. Organic agriculture has become extremely popular and one step beyond is the Biodynamic approach to growing both food and grapes for the production of wine. But what is or are Biodynamics?
In short, it is farming using the cosmos, more especially the moon, to determine the work done in the field and wineries before planting or picking anything. It involves the use of certain natural “preparations”, all made from origins that turn into compost and sprays to set up perfect conditions in the soil. There is actually a specific lunar calendar for this purpose that tells you when to do what and to what, especially for planting. The month divides into 5 different days, not all of which are 24 hours long with the fifth being a sort of nothing day.
The different days relate to different parts of the plant and are named, Fruit Days, Flower Days, Leaf Days and Root Days. Thus, if you’re doing something with the soil, you do it on a root day etc.
One of the ideas involves burying a horn packed with manure on the corner of the vineyard at the equinox and digging it up at the next equinox, diluting the manure with water and spraying it on the field or vineyard. Witchcraft I thought!! Until we went to taste the wines of a grower who had Volnay 1er Cru in Burgundy. He had a tank of wine that had been made with Biodynamic principles inclusive of the cow’s horn thing. Half had been bottled on a fruit day and half on a root day. The half from the fruit day was superb whereas the half from the root day was awful! It was a bit of an expensive exercise for him but certainly proved a point.
We certainly don’t advocate only buying Biodynamic wines but if you’re interested, why not do a bit more reading about Biodynamics and then do some tasting. The Biodynamic Association can be found at:
https://www.biodynamics.com
Later this week we’ll put out an offer for some Biodynamic wines.