The origins of biodynamic wines can be traced back to the early twenties and is associated with the research performed by Rudolph Steiner in Germany. The concept is effectively approaching vineyards as if it were a single living entity and treating all the influences surrounding the vineyards as aspects of a whole system. So all of the influences – bugs, vines, earth, animals, weather, contribute something and should be leveraged toward sustainability rather than opting for pesticides, artificial fertilizers, or man-made treatments.
When you’re in northern California’s wine country, traipsing through Sonoma County or Napa County, seek out the local wineries which offer biodynamic wines and listen intently on their tours or in their tasting rooms and see if their processes have impact that you can taste in the wine. Hopefully your pallet will discern things that you hadn’t noticed before because you weren’t privy to the differences in the paths taken during the life of the grapes.
Those differences are things like the fertilizer. There are no artificial chemicals used in feeding the soil or treating vines. In the biodynamic method natural cow manure is used, along with decomposed animals and compost. Astrological phases are also considered for things like harvest times during a given month in an effort to capitalize on the phases of the moon, gravity and water content of the plants, theoretically meant to time the harvest perfectly for the best fruit. In the most general sense, all biodynamic practices are natural pursuits; there should be nothing artificial used from beginning to end.
The biodynamic process is a long-term mentality where it is believed that everything that is done to the land and plants should not be focused on maximizing single harvests, but rather to have very high standards for the best possible growing techniques and with that, you’ll realize the highest quality grapes and the most well regarded wines in turn, year after year. While biodynamic practices are also environmentally friendly and that is a selling point for wineries with an increasing aware consumer public, the real motivation behind the wholesale adoption of tending to the land with natural practices is because the techniques are producing exceptional wines for a lot of the biggest names in wine country and with that, everyone is taking notice.
