WHAT IS BIODYNAMIC FARMING AND WINEMAKING?

The core of biodynamics is as old as agriculture itself, but biodynamics is a relatively modern philosophy. The core of the philosophy has been recognized by the scientific community, and then there are aspects that are more difficult to verify scientifically. Put simply, the core of biodynamics is to encourage a self-sustaining ecosystem in which vineyards are integrated with their environment, such as other crops, indigenous “uncultivated” plants, native bacteria, and domestic and wild indigenous animals. When extended to winemaking, winemakers are ensuring that first the grapes were grown on a biodynamic farm and second that they apply the same tenets of letting nature do most of the work, i.e., keeping intervention in the fermentation, resting, and bottling process as low and hands-off as possible.

The Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner came up with the concept of biodynamics in 1924 to counter the rapidly developing industrial farming trend of the period. Ironically, science was fully on the side of chemical farming during this period. Chemical fertilizers, developed around the 1880s, were keeping soil viable enough to sustain large-scale, often mono-crop, farms, and chemical pesticides were killing the pests that preyed on these large industrially farmed crops, which were needed to feed a worldwide urbanization-fueled human population boom.

Yet already by the dawn of the second decade of the 20th century, Steiner foresaw that these revolutionary scientific agricultural achievements would eventually bring destruction to the earth by weakening soil in the long run and killing natural enemies of pests and diseases, which themselves would find ways to mutate anyway. His solution was for agriculturists to de-prioritize mono-crop farming, eschew chemicals, adopt organic fertilization and herbicides, and to concentrate on ecological harmony with farms that grew multiple crops which coexisted with native plants and domestic and wild animals. It turns out that much of the scientific community has come full circle to embrace these tenets. But Steiner also believed that farmers should be tapping into a spiritual world and its interrelationship with the physical world.

Examples where science and mysticism blur include combating mildew with tea made from stinging nettles, spreading compost during ascending moons, and organizing the lunar calendar into four groups of days: flower, fruit, leaf, and root. Regarding the latter, plants are supposedly more receptive to certain practices such as fertilizing or pruning during certain phases of the moon. Fruit days are meant for harvesting, leaf days for watering, root days for pruning, and on flower days, the vineyard is left alone. Another practice is Preparation 500 in which cow horns are stuffed with organic manure compost and buried in the ground in strategic places during the winter and excavated in the Spring and the manure spread through the vineyard… and oh, it must be a cow horn that holds the manure; even a bull’s horn will not qualify.

Over the years, biodynamic farming, or adjacent biodynamic farming (aka “practicing biodynamic;” many small producer viticulturists will tell you that they never stopped farming in a multi-crop, no chemicals manner) has produced enough positive results that there are now official certification agencies for biodynamic agriculture, the most prominent being the Demeter Association Certified Biodynamic.

A TRUE CONVERSION TO BIODYNAMIC FARMING

DeLoach Vineyards is in the heart of Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley. The estate has been in existence since the 1970s, but in 2003 the Boisset family from Burgundy, France bought the estate with a mission to better employ the estate’s environmental assets being located on the eastern bench of the Russian River in an ideal growing climate.

The Boisset family deduced that decades of chemical pesticides and fertilizers had depleted the soil and environment surrounding the vineyards; hence, the first thing it did was remove the existing vineyards and plant cover crops to return essential nutrients to the soil. The first cover crop was safflower which has deep roots that drew moisture up and out of the sticky clay soil of the Russian River floodplain.

The brothers, still young: Fabien and Cyril Boisard

Deloach Estate in the Russian River Valley

WHAT IS BIODYNAMIC FARMING AND WINEMAKING?

Preparation 500

Once the soil dried out to a more balanced level of moisture, it was turned over at a depth of several feet introducing more space for oxygen and water. The soil was then amended with a combination of rock phosphate (a natural slow-release form of phosphorus), lime (to raise the soil pH and adjust the calcium/magnesium ratio), and a biodynamic compost preparation. The latter was prepared the previous winter and consisted of organic barley straw and clean pure manure from cows that contained no hormones from local dairies, thus recycling the natural nutrients from the manure back into the local ecosystem. One hundred tons of manure and straw were formed into a large windrow, covered with straw to hold in moisture and heat and encourage metabolic activity. At certain points in the compost’s development, the winery added biodynamic preparations, such as teas made from plants.

Also, after the first cover crop season, the Preparation 500 horn manure was buried in the soil, and a winter cover crop of barley, vetch (which fixes nitrogen in the soil), and indicator plants were planted. The latter are plants that act as “canaries in the coal mind” in that their levels of survivability let viticulturists know what types of nutrients are in the underlying soil. After the second cover crop ran its course, the team planted its first Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines according to the biodynamic calendar while continuing to plant a variety of crops alongside the vines to encourage beneficial insects and microbial diversity and to enhance the soil’s structure and fertility. Seventeen acres were immediately set aside for strict biodynamic farming to begin the process towards certification. By 2008, DeLoach Vineyards had obtained organic certification by the CCOF, and two years later in 2010 they obtained Demeter Biodynamic Certification.

Featured June Amaro Wine Club Biodynamic wine: DeLoach Vineyards Pinot Noir Russian River Valley (2021)
VARIETALS: Pinot Noir

The Pinot Noir grapes for this wine are hand-harvested from both the DeLoach Vineyards and the nearby Heintz Vineyards, and each of these Russian River Valley vineyards contribute their unique complexities to the final blend. The Heinz Vineyard comprise five distinct blocks with different soils varying from Huichica clay loam to heavier clay found in some of the lower lying portions of the vineyard, and they work with four different Pinot Noir clones that offer different characteristics to the wine.
The vinification is carried out according to traditional Burgundian techniques, including fermentation in small tanks, hand punch downs, and it is aged for 10 months in 60-gallon French oak barrels, 18 percent new and the rest used.

FOOD PAIRINGS: brined turkey, fatty fish such as salmon, Gruyere, Gouda, and aged cheddar, duck, lamb, roast chicken, barbecue meats, mushroom dishes

BRINGING VITICULTURE FULL CIRCLE TO ITS ROOTS

Bàrbara Mesquida Mora

Bàrbara literally runs a hands-on family operation.

The Mesquida Mora winery is in Mallorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea where Bàrbara Mesquida Mora was born and raised. She first worked many years on her grandfather’s land and managed his winery for eight years, during which time she obtained, in 2007, one of the first Demeter biodynamic certifications in Spain. In 2012, Bàrbara started her own project from scratch with vineyards that she inherited from her mother nearby, close to the town of Porreres. Her winery produces Denominación de Origen (DO)— Plà i Llevant and VdlT Mallorca—wines in the southern and eastern areas of the island.

Her vineyards grow on calcareous clay, limestone, and cal vermell, a red clay that is rich in iron, and her goal is to work solely with native varieties, e.g., Prensal, Callet, Mantonegro, Giró Ros, and Gorgollasa, which she thinks thrive best in this type of soil. Currently she also grows some international varietals that her father had planted on the land, including Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay. They were the first foreign varietals planted in Mallorca, and Bàrbara, who studied Medieval literature and Catalan language in Barcelona, is passionate about preserving the agricultural history of Mallorca; however, she thinks they are new enough to the land to justify phasing them out, and she has already begun the process of grafting over many of them with native varietals.

Bàrbara’s most recent project has been to plant more than one hundred fruit trees throughout her vineyards to encourage a polyculture environment. Ironically, when her great-grandfather Jaume Mesquida first started his winery in 1945, vines and fruit trees were mixed in the vineyards as the apricot industry was a major business in the village of Porreres; hence, in essence Bàrbara is bringing that practice back full circle.

Featured June Amaro Wine Club Biodynamic wine: Mesquida Mora Mallorca Sincronia Negre (2023)
VARIETALS: Callet, Merlot, Gorgollassa, Syrah, Manto Negro, Monastrell, Pinot Noir

Bàrbara purposely produces this wine in limited quantities. Following a manual harvest, each of the varietals undergoes separate fermentation with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks. After fermentation, each goes through malolactic fermentation after which they are finally blended and racked into two- and three-year-old French and American 225 liter oak barrels for six months of aging. The wine is bottled unfiltered.

Bàrbara is very meticulous with her esthetic branding. The Sincronia wine labels have been created with small fragments of colored paper that each represent the vineyards where the grapes were grown. This wine was sourced from five different parcels between the towns of Porreres and Felantix near the southeast corner of the island, and the lighthouse depiction on the label is a reminder of the wine’s Mediterranean island origin.

FOOD PAIRINGS: roast suckling pig, veal carpaccio, llom en col, cabbage-wrapped pork, coca de trampó, chorizo, shrimp paella, pasta Bolognese

Mesquida Mora vineyards

LARGE EXPORT-FOCUSED COOPERATIVE DEDICATED TO LOCAL SUSTAINABILITY

BIO Cantina Sociale Orsogna is a cooperative formed in 1964 by 35 viticulturists. Currently, it comprises 300 members who account for 3,700 acres in the Abruzzo region of Italy. The winery and most of the members’ vineyards abut the boundaries of the Majella National Park, one of the largest and most diverse natural wildlife reserves in Italy. In tune with this natural wonder, all the cooperative’s members share a dedication to environmental conservation and sustainability. Every member operates certified organic vineyards, and they are all certified members of Biodiversity Friend, an organization that measures environmental progress based on methods developed by the non-profit World Biodiversity Association ONLUS operated by naturalists, botanists, and zoologists who assess sustainable biodiversity via indices of soil, water and air.

To provide as much proof to consumers as possible regarding the authenticity of their practices and certifications, BIO Cantina Sociale Orsogna is also utilizing cutting edge technology. The cooperative is using Blockchain, the authentication process created for digital currency, to verify its certifications and practices.

Promotional marketing depicting that within 17 years 100% of members became certified organic.

Promotional photos celebrating Demeter certification of members.

To provide as much proof to consumers as possible regarding the authenticity of their practices and certifications, BIO Cantina Sociale Orsogna is also utilizing cutting edge technology. The cooperative is using Blockchain, the authentication process created for digital currency, to verify its certifications and practices.

Featured June Amaro Wine Club Biodynamic wine: Spiritus Terrae Terre di Chieti Malvasia Orange (2023)
VARIETALS: Malvasia

The cooperative’s winery features various portfolios that reflect specific projects. This wine is part of the Spiritus Terrae project/portfolio, which is an initiative to encourage the cultivation of native varietals.

The vines for these native Malvasia grapes grow at 1,600 feet altitude. Of course no chemical pesticides or fertilizers are used, but also no irrigation, and the grapes are harvested by hand. The vineyards publish on Blockchain their certification from the organization RINA AGRIFOOD to verify every one of these practices.

Featured June Amaro Wine Club Biodynamic wine: Spiritus Terrae Terre di Chieti Malvasia Orange (2023)
VARIETALS: Malvasia

The cooperative’s winery features various portfolios that reflect specific projects. This wine is part of the Spiritus Terrae project/portfolio, which is an initiative to encourage the cultivation of native varietals.

The vines for these native Malvasia grapes grow at 1,600 feet altitude. Of course no chemical pesticides or fertilizers are used, but also no irrigation, and the grapes are harvested by hand. The vineyards publish on Blockchain their certification from the organization RINA AGRIFOOD to verify every one of these practices.

The grapes are macerated on the skin for three days, and ferment spontaneously with wild yeast. No sulfites are added for stabilization. Instead, the natural occurring tartaric acid, which you will see as sediment crystallized in the bottle, is stabilized naturally with the cold temperatures during the winter storage.

FOOD PAIRINGS: curry dishes and dishes with turmeric spice, semi-aged cheeses, spicy vegetarian cuisine, such as South Asian fare, squash-based dishes.

Official Blockchain certificate