Homeopathy For Vines: Biodynamics

By Condé Cox

[A modified version of this article appeared in Portland Monthly magazine]

Now that vineyards have reduced their reliance on agrochemicals, many have become officially certified as “organic.” But nowadays, organic certification is not enough for the most ardently natural. The next new certification, which is sweeping across the wine world like a storm, is “Biodynamic.” It does one better than organics, by setting the harvest according to the phases of the moon and by making the compost pile the source of nearly every soil nutrient.

One view is that Biodynamics is sort of like homeopathy, a version of nontraditional medicine that eschews modern pharmaceuticals and substitutes for them highly diluted and specially stirred mixtures, with literally one part per million of an active substance in solution. By using these highly diluted preparations, Biodynamics aims to stimulate, in a vineyard or farm, the growth of worms and frogs and tiny microbes that are believed essential for regeneration of healthy soils.

As Doug Tunnell, the owner of Brick House, Oregon’s first Biodynamically certified vineyard and winery, puts it, “Biodynamics is not about quantity. Everything is…well… an innoculant! It is not about having a pool of stuff to put in your vineyard; it is about making a ripple in that pool.”

As Mike Etzel, co-owner (with his brother-in-law, wine guru Robert Parker) and vineyard manager for the Willamette Valley’s Beaux Freres label, says, “after I spray Chamomile tea on my vines, I do not know if the grapes are any better, but I sure do feel better.”

Although this may be a bit too touchy-feely for those of us living here north of the California state line, the list of adherents to the Biodynamic vineyard farming methods now include some of the biggest names in the world of wine: Domaine de la Romanee Conti and Domaine Leroy (makers of the most expensive Burgundy wines), Zind Humbrecht (the source for some of the best of Alsace), and Coulee de Serrant, (considered the world’s best Chenin Blanc vineyard).

Maybe Biodynamics is nothing more, with its attention to the phases of the moon and with ripples in Doug Tunnell’s Biodynamic Pool, than a really good way to make sure that there are plenty of an owner’s footprints in his vineyard.

Tasting Notes

Brick House ‘Les Dijonnaise’ Estate Pinot Noir 2005 $46

Rich, dark fruit flavors, with a long cellarworthy life ahead.

(Certified By Demeter as Biodynamic in the vineyard and winery)

Beaux Freres ‘The Vineyard’ Estate Pinot Noir 2005 $75

Heavily extracted with toasty new oak flavors.

(Biodynamically farmed, but not officially certified)

Cowhorn Vineyard Viognier 2006 $30

Unctous, with finely-grained tree fruit flavors. Reminiscent of Condrieu.

(Demeter-certified both in vineyard and winery practices)