The Tulsa Food Blog

Biodynamism and farming according to biodynamic principles is nothing new has been around for over eighty years, since the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner gave a series of lectures in 1924, in response to farmers noticing that the use of chemical fertilizers led to degraded soil conditions and a deterioration in both the health and quality of their crops and livestock. Biodynamism takes organic farming two steps further by incorporating both biodiversity and astronomy, more specifically the cycles of the moon and their passing through the two signs of the zodiac. Followers of this regime believe that the best days for harvesting, planting and sowing are in accordance with whether the moon is in the ascendant (when a plant’s sap rises) or descendant (when the vitality is in the roots).

This approach applies not just to food but interestingly to wine production as well. In both France and Germany , biodynamic wineries have existed widely for decades, and there is a growing movement worldwide, with wineries across the US, Italy and Australia embracing and utilizing biodynamic principles I found a home-made but well researched list on the web that lists over 500 wineries either fully biodynamic or slowly converting to these practices.

German gardener and educator Maria Thun is the acknowledged leader of the biodynamic wine field. Her annual sowing and planting calendar, which she has published for 40 years, is now published in 18 languages. Thun has identified ‘fruit’, ‘flower’, ‘leaf’ and ‘root’ days, which affect gardening, harvesting and even eating practices.

For the first time, for 2010, she is publishing a guide on the optimum days to drink wine in an easy to use guide, which I just received and read through this weekend. According to Thun the same four days affect when ‘wine tastes best’. So, on ‘fruit’ days, wine is at its optimum, and is also very enjoyable on ‘flower’ days. It’s best to avoid you best wines on ‘leaf’ days, and especially on ‘root’ days, when wines are at their nadir. Not that you shouldn’t drink them, but they won’t be showing at their best. In a sense, the wines will be having an off or bad day! The days don’t follow a strict 24-hour cycle, but it is often close. For example, December 1 is a ‘root’ day but only after 2 a.m. If you are up late tonight, wine is tasting good!

It might sound crazy but UK retailers have endorsed the nation. Supermarket giants Tesco and Marks & Spencer only hold their wine-tastings on ‘fruit’ days, the ‘best’ days for appreciating wine. Just last month Marks & Spencer held a ‘fruit vs. root’ wine tasting for the press to prove their point, and push the philosophy. At the end of the event, all but one critic correctly guessed which day was which. As David Motion, owner of The Winery in London ‘s Maida Vale, and a former biodynamic skeptic, observed “A root day won’t make a good wine taste bad, but on a fruit day the wine is almost leaping out of the bottle and singing “ta-dah!”.

If you are a skeptic, buy the book and follow the cycles yourself. I’m going to track my findings and I will report back in a few months.

http://www.amazon.com/When-Wine-Tastes-Best-2010/dp/0863157254/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259597118&sr=8-1

http://www.forkandbottle.com/wine/biodynamic_producers.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture

About the Tulsa Wine Club:

Mark Stenner is the organizer of the Tulsa Wine Club, a local tasting group that meets once a month to sample wines. The tastings take place in private homes in the Tulsa metro area, and are casual and fun events. Participants of all age ranges enjoy 10-12 wines per event, served alongside the food each member contributes to the evening. They welcome anyone with an interest in wine, whether novice or expert. Mark believes in learning through osmosis, drinking wine and forming your own evaluation of your experience.

For information about the club, please email Mark at tulsawineclub@yahoo.com