Having read the 'Moonshine' reading I have completely turned away from wanting to drink biodynamic wines. I understand that they must be better for you (i.e. they are far more natural then some other wines), however, I am finding it really difficult to want to consume a wine that has been produced in a biodynamic fashion. For instance, I find the 'preparation 500' concept that gives life forces to the vines a little nutty. The practice of burying manure in cow horns at the fall equinox and then spreading this manure (once dug up) onto the vines is not something that I find induces me into wanting to try these types of wines. I understand that these wines arguably taste better, and that they command a higher price, however, do they really appeal to you?
Many thanks,
Dave
thanks for raising this dave. i find the biodynamic wines to taste rather raw. i am not sure if it appeals to me.
ReplyDeleteThe reading helped me better understand Rudolf Steiner and clarify the negative issues underlying general farming. I’ve always found it comical that the Biodynamic supporters seem to claim superiority with their living soils, healthy vines, and better expressions of terroir. Many biodynamic producers also claim that only through Biodynamics can your vineyard obtain its greatest potential and thus result in the most authentic wines. It reminds me a little of religious doctrine more so than fact. The clear implication is that if you’re not a Biodynamic grower your products are inferior and will always be inferior because you can never reach your vineyard’s greatest potential. While I respect the practice of ensuring top quality wines, I do believe that the difference between Biodynamic vs. not is not that drastic of a difference, or rather, not enough to make the change to drink solely Biodynamic wines.
ReplyDeleteNina, and YP, thanks for your comments.
ReplyDeleteIvo's presentation in our class provided me a better perspective on biodynamic wine making. Going into the class I was more focussed on the more unique preparation practices that I considered to be a bit nutty. However, after listening to him I could tell that the clear motivation was to (1) produce wine from a vineyard that had reached its potential; and (2) sustainable wine making (increasing the life of the winery). As a finance guy, I really found it interesting when he said that a key driver was actually return of investment from the winery (due to the longer life of the vines).