Taste
By Paul Gregutt
Not Woo-Woo Anymore
More and more wineries are tasting the benefits of saving the soil
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 ILLUSTRATED BY PAUL SCHMID / THE SEATTLE TIMES |
I FIRST ENCOUNTERED the idea of "biodynamic viticulture" quite by chance. In the spring of 1992, I had arranged to visit winemaker Nicolas Joly on a swing through the Loire Valley. I had fallen in love with his Savennières, a bone-dry chenin blanc of such extraordinary character that Joly had been granted his own unique appellation — Coulée de Serrant. I wanted to see his vineyard and talk to the Man himself.
When I got to his vineyard, I was surprised when, rather than giving me a quick tasting and tour outside, Joly sat me down in his study and launched into a three-hour dissertation. Fascinated, I learned that biodynamics is as much a philosophy as a system of cultivating plants. Its founder, the Austrian Dr. Rudolf Steiner, proposed his radical agricultural theories in a series of lectures in 1924.
His ideas about planting and farming biodynamically incorporate rather bizarre-sounding preparations, whose ingredients — various types of animal manure, ground quartz, dried flowers and tree bark — are fermented in skulls and horns and bladders according to specific recipes. These preparations are then mixed into compost or sprayed directly on the soil or the plants, always at prescribed times that correlate to the phases of the moon and seasons of the year.
It's easy to scoff at such woo-woo instructions, but as more and more vineyards have shown, biodynamic farming works. It can revitalize soil that has been stripped of its life by decades of chemicals that have turned plants into virtual junkies. In the 1970s and '80s, some of Europe's best wineries feared that the delicate, complex flavors that distinguished their wines were fading away. A few of them began trying biodynamics; that few has turned into a flood.
In the U.S., the number of wineries practicing "sustainable" viticulture has grown steadily. It's a precursor to being certified as organic, and features the use of cover crops, organic compost and "friendly" insects, as well as controlling erosion and minimizing the use of chemicals and synthetic fertilizers. Organic certification has stricter requirements and forbids the use of certain chemicals that help fight fungus, rot and oxidation. Biodynamics is a further step.
• For more about the Demeter organization's global activities in biodynamic farming, see its Web site at www.demeter.net. The U.S. chapter (www.demeter-usa.org/) is headquartered in Junction City, Ore., 541-998-5691.
• Champion Wine Cellars (108 Denny Way, Seattle; 206-284-8306) carries a good selection of organic and biodynamic wines on specially labeled shelves. Proprietor Emile Ninaud points out that many organically grown wines are not labeled as such. Consult your wine seller for specifics.
• California wineries with biodynamic vineyards include: Bonterra and Patianna in Mendocino; Ceàgo del Lago in Lake County; Araujo, Grgich and Viader in Napa; Benziger and Quivira in Sonoma; and Beckmen "Purisima Mountain" in Santa Barbara. (Note: Not all their wines are biodynamic; only those from specific vineyards.)
• Oregon wineries with vineyards that either are certified or have begun the process include: Bergstrom, Brick House, Cooper Mountain and Maysara. Many others, notably Archery Summit, Evesham Wood, King Estate, Sokol Blosser and WillaKenzie, are farming organically and/or sustainably.
The Demeter organization is one of two governing bodies, with branches throughout the world. It certifies not just winegrowers but all types of biodynamic agriculture. The other is Biodivin, a newer group that focuses solely on viticulture. Demeter has trademarked the term biodynamic for the U.S., so it alone controls use of the term in this country. The Demeter philosophy: "Biodynamic farm management relies on close attention to the interrelation of the farm's parts. In practice this entails managing a farm in such a way that inputs, which otherwise would need to be imported from off the farm, arise from within the living dynamics of the farm itself." Which means you'd better have cows to grow those horns you're going to bury.
Demeter has certified just a few U.S. vineyards, many so recently that their biodynamically farmed wines have not been released. Many others are moving in that direction. Here in Washington, Christophe Baron's Walla Walla vineyards are the first to be certified.
These modern-day practitioners apply biodynamics because of its practical benefits; they can taste the results. It is bearing fruit in a hard-nosed business environment. The search for terroir, that elusive expression of grape, soil, site and climate, is clearly linked to the health and vitality of the soil.
And the wines? Flavors, say winemakers, are brighter. Intensity and purity of fruit are more apparent. Natural acid and pH levels are more balanced, and elegance and complexity are enhanced.
In my limited experience, quality is a bit spotty. In the first years of applying these techniques, especially to damaged soils, the vineyard may well suffer. It's like a junkie quitting drugs; it goes through withdrawal. Joly told me it takes a good nine years for a badly damaged vineyard to fully recover. My advice is, try the wines from the producers named here. If you can taste a difference and are willing to pay the premium, then I believe their efforts are well worth your support.
Paul Gregutt writes the Wednesday wine column for The Seattle Times and covers Northwest wine for the Wine Enthusiast magazine and Tom Stevenson's "Wine Report" books. Write to him at wine@seattletimes.com. Paul Schmid is a Times staff artist.
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