A biodynamic wine guide for the ethical drinker

Andrew Neather

22 April 2013

Guest blogger Andrew Neather is wine critic for the London Evening Standard and a former editor of Earthmatters, Friends of the Earth's supporter magazine.

When I commissioned The Friends of the Earth Organic Wine Guide 15 years ago, author Monty Waldin (pictured below) seemed a voice in the wilderness. Back then there was growing interest in organic and biodynamic wines. But both were frankly on the fringe - especially biodynamic wines, all effectively organic but made in accordance with the stricter rules laid down by Austrian reformer and agronomist Rudolf Steiner almost a century ago.

As Waldin explains in his latest book Best Biodynamic Wines, biodynamics involves spraying the vines with a series of 'preparations', mostly derived from plants, which have been 'dynamised' (ie stirred well). The dates and times of day of these applications depend on the lunar cycle. Another important preparation, horn manure 500, is made by burying manure in cow horns in the vineyard between autumn and spring.

Today, wines made from organic grapes have become more-or-less mainstream. Biodynamic wines remain less common - still a tiny fraction of overall wine production. But big producers are starting to convert all or part to biodynamic - Michel Chapoutier in the Rhône, Olivier Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace, Fetzer in California - while others including Bordeaux first growth Château Margaux are experimenting with it.

Biodynamic wines have also become more popular thanks to the rise of the 'natural' wine movement.

This is especially true in France where some proponents are even more hard-core in their opposition to chemical treatments and additives.

And Waldin himself, now indisputably the UK's greatest authority on biodynamic wines, has helped them gain a wider audience, especially through his documentary Château Monty (Channel 4), where he made his own biodynamic wine in Roussillon.

Not surprisingly, some biodynamic practices inspire scepticism in many producers and wine critics. Indeed some have dismissed the whole approach as 'voodoo'. There has been little serious scientific study comparing biodynamic with conventional methods. And Steiner himself was an eccentric figure: not only did he never farm, and he disapproved of alcohol, but he founded a spiritual movement, "anthroposophy", while his views on Jews and eugenics were distinctly dodgy.

Waldin's defence is simply that biodynamics seem to work. How far this is because the approach forces producers to take greater care of their vines, or because their soil is more healthy, is hard to judge. But I would agree with him that biodynamic production can often - not always - make very individual wines, pure in flavour and expressive of their terroir - that is, where they are from. This authoritative and opinionated book is a useful guide to some of the best.

Find out about biodynamic and organic wine with our partner Vinceremos.

The views expressed here are the author's own. Follow Andrew Neather on Twitter @hernehillandy