The Biodynamic Revolution in Fine Wine
Organic. Biodynamic. Schmorganic. Natural. Stepping into the natural wine movement is fraught with confusions. Here’s our simple bullseye: “No chemistry in the vineyard. No bullshit in the cellar.” Thank you, Tom Lubbe.
A quiet quest
It expresses the quiet, determined quest of farmers who make wines to express their fruit, in that place, at that time. Nowt else. After 75 years of industrial damage, it’s no simple task, here’s a fav of Jancis Robinson, Didier Ferrier of Colline de l’Hirondelle: ‘It took us 4-5 growing seasons for the vines to detoxify.” The stress on the vines after decades of synthetic steroid support resulted in yields plummeting by 50%.
The earth returned, screaming
The vines screamed for water, food, protection. Their response: push roots deeper for water, build a stronger canopy for sun protection, and produce less fruit; energy needed to survive. Some die. The strong begin to thrive. Recovery from addiction takes any organic mass, time. This struggle builds character of flavour. Now. More, better fruit. The earth returned.
“Eliminate man from nature”
Low intervention in the cellar is only possible when the vineyard is the focus of effort: manual labour, optimal yield pruning, soil regeneration, natural compost, a tilling plan. And worms – nature’s engine of soil regeneration. As Wilfred Valet of Nouvelle Don(n)e expresses: “my vision is to eliminate man from nature.”
And a cacophony of life returns, Didier again: “I hear sounds in the vineyard that I’ve not heard since I was a little boy.” The return of a food chain – insects, spiders, birds and small animals – no longer repelled by pesticides, insecticides and synthetic soil food.
Low intervention – flavour has an address
With high quality yields at harvest, activity to enhance flavour in the cellar is history. Low intervention. Grapes are handpicked, the cellar is clean, clean, indigenous yeast and gentle extraction. After nature’s first magic act, secondary fermentation begins in the winemaker’s choice of vessel amphora, barrel, concrete, stainless steel.
The result is contemporary fine wine made by ancient farming practices. Each wine carrying a ‘flavour address’ of its terroir: bold fruit, mineral/saline freshness, exquisite secondary flavours.
For decades, LanguedocRoussillon has been at the forefront of the biodynamic/natural wine movement. Enticed by cheap land, relaxed regulations, significant variety of terroir & vine plots, winemakers with a vision – indigenous grapes planted in soil where they thrive – could carve their future out of the history of the land.
Natural wine bars around the UK
This revolution in sustainable farming of vines is assembling a drinking audience city-by-city across the UK. Here is an open Google map that we can grow – UK Natural Wine Bars. Please add more.
And for those of you who like a reading list:
Classics
The Wild Bunch. Great wines from small producers (Patrick Matthews)
Wine, from Sky to Earth. Growing & Appreciating Biodynamic Wine. (Nicolas Joly)
Natural Wine for the People. (Alice Feiring)
Farmer’s inspiration
https://www.rudolfsteinerelib.org/Biodynamics/ (Rudolf Steiner)
The One-Straw Revolution. (Masanobu Fukuoka)
Introduction to Natural Wine
The Dirty Guide to Wine. (Alice Feiring)
Natural Wine. No Drama. (Honey Spencer)
Natural Wine. (Isabelle Legeron MW)
More enjoyable wine writing
Making Sense of Wine. (Matt Kramer)
A Pike in the Basement. Tales of a hungry traveller. (Simon Loftus)
Reading Between the Wines. (Terry Theise)
Salt & Old Vines. True tales of winemaking in the Roussillon. (Richard Bray)