Biodynamic principles
In biodynamically orientated viticulture, various measures of biological plant protection or integrated plant protection are applied in a very strict form. The entire ecosystem and its natural resources are conserved and the life processes in the interaction of earthly and cosmic forces are specifically promoted. The main focus is on the work in the vineyard. Pruning, fertilising, weeding and harvesting are based on a sowing calendar. The soil should be ploughed at least once a year, if possible with a horse and cart and not with a tractor. It should be revitalised with compost and treated with minerals so that it once again becomes a habitat for diverse microorganisms with a natural balance. Biodiversity (preservation of species diversity) and sustainability (utilisation of regenerative living resources) play a major role.
In addition to the methods of organic viticulture, the use of special agents is prescribed to strengthen the natural forces of the vine and to activate the life processes in the soil. Cattle horn plays a central role as a fertiliser, which is used in combination with other substances such as cow dung or quartz dust in very small, homeopathic doses (only a few grams/hectare). Plant strengthening agents with a resistance-promoting effect against harmful organisms are used. For example, infusions of herbs or dried herbs are very beneficial for the vine. Nettles ensure balance and harmony in the vineyard. Cosmic forces such as the phases of the moon and other constellations must always be taken into account. According to biodynamic teachings, the moon in particular has a significant influence on the development of earthly plants.
Effect of biodynamics
The Swiss journalist Andreas Heller in the NZZ-Folio (magazine of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung) has vividly described the effect of biodynamics: Just on the day of the autumnal equinox, a new era began on the Cruchon family's vineyard in Echichens near Morges (La Côte area in the canton of Vaud). Michel Cruchon filled six cow horns with cow dung and buried them in the soil of his best vineyard. He left the horns in the ground for six months, until the equinox the following spring, and when he dug them up again, the cow dung smelled so pungent that Cruchon would have preferred to throw the horns away. But he did as his teacher, François Bouchet, had instructed: he dissolved the manure in lukewarm water and stirred the broth in a round container, first clockwise until a vortex was created, then counter-clockwise for 20 minutes.
The liquid was then sprayed drop by drop over the vineyard in the late afternoon, as the sun was fading. He was told that just 120 grams of this "dynamised" cow dung would be enough to positively stimulate the root growth of the vines on one hectare. Cow dung is just one of many preparations used in biodynamic viticulture that Cruchon has been using for some time now. Quartz dust, which was buried in the ground in a cow horn over the summer and then dissolved in dynamised water, is said to support the vine leaves in photosynthesis from a concentration of just four grams per hectare and ensure a deeper colour in the wine. Infusions of herbs also do nothing but good for the vine. Nettles, for example, ensure balance and harmony throughout the vineyard.
How can this extraordinary phenomenon be explained? I am not an esotericist, Michel Cruchon explains: " I learnt my trade from the bottom up. I can tell you how pesticides work. However, biodynamics has taught me above all to marvel. Not everything can be explained. But the results are clear. Cruchon shows a traditionally cultivated vineyard. The soil is bare, the vines are tall, rich in fleshy leaves and covered with thick bunches of grapes. Right next to them are some rows of vines cultivated using new methods. The ground is overgrown with grasses and herbs, the vines are gnarled, the foliage light and the fruit small and plump. Two times the same plant, two concepts of agriculture: there the monoculture trimmed for yield, here the useful plant, embedded in its natural environment. And the wines are correspondingly different.
The conventional products are light and rather non-committal, the biodynamic ones are more complex, powerful and concentrated. They are wines with a strong terroir. "Sensitive crystallisations" were also carried out, which biodynamicists use to test the vitality of a plant. A mixture of the plant sap (in this case wine) and a copper chloride solution is placed in a petri dish and the result of the crystallisation is awaited. If the vitality of the product is extinguished, the copper chloride solution dries out and leaves behind an amorphous (shapeless) stain. However, if the analysed material is fully vitalised, the living forces arrange the copper chloride into a structure reminiscent of ice flowers. The biodynamic wine shows increased vitality, its crystallisation is finer and lasts up to five days, whereas conventional wine begins to disintegrate before that. The term natural wine emerged in the 1980s. This refers to wines that are produced according to non-invasive principles with as little intervention as possible, often on the basis of biodynamic methods.
Biodynamic guru Nicolas Joly
The French Loire winegrower Nicolas Joly, with his Château de la Roche-aux-Moines vineyard and the famous single vineyard Coulée-de-Serrant, is regarded as the absolute guru and pioneer of biodynamic viticulture. He founded the organic winegrowers' association La Renaissance des Appellations. He came across Steiner's writings by chance and systematically reorganised his business from the mid-1980s onwards. In 1997, he published the book "Le vin - du ciel à la terre" (Soulful Wine, Hallwag Verlag) about his experiences, initiating a worldwide movement in modern viticulture that has now also reached the wine regions of the New World. He writes:
Modern agriculture, which is increasingly orientated exclusively towards quantitative and commercial aspects, is leading to a dead end. It destroys the soil, poisons the food, kills diversity and flavour. The paradox of modern agriculture and science is that although we know a great deal, we have hardly understood how it all fits together.
Biodynamic associations & producers
The oldest biodynamic organic association in the world is DEMETER, which was founded in 1924. Well-known producers with certified biodynamic viticulture include the Chapoutier (Rhône), Christmann Arnold (Palatinate), Colomé (Argentina), Dirler-Cadé (Alsace), Didier Dagueneau (Loire), Domaine Gauby (Roussillon), Domaine Leroy and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (Burgundy), Dr. Bürklin-Wolf (Palatinate), Ellwanger Jürgen (Württemberg), Fetzer with Bonterra (California), Kühn Peter Jakob (Rheingau), Meinklang - Weingut Michlits, Nikolaihof, Weninger Franz and Wimmer-Czerny (Austria) and Wittmann Philipp (Rheinhessen). Other associations are BIODYVIN and respekt-BIODYN.
Other organic methods
Bioenergetic viticulture is sometimes described as a further development of biodynamic viticulture, although it is not without controversy due to individual methods such as the use of music in the vineyard and cellar to improve quality. However, both forms of production are often summarised in many sources and considered as a unit. The third (second) scientifically undisputed form of production is organic (ecological) viticulture (see numerous further information there).
