By Philippa Vanham
The biodynamic line up
Organic and biodynamic practices are all around nowadays covering everything from chocolate to whiskey but what does it mean in the wine trade and does it actually make wine taste better? As a host/tutor for Wine Unearthed I am often asked this question in our wine tasting workshops so I felt it was merely my duty to try and find out a bit more about it. No, it’s ok….. I insist!
I attended a biodynamic wine tasting on what was, according to the biodynamic calendar, the ‘best’ day that month to taste wine. All the forces of the universe were impacting on the wine so it tastes at its best. All days fall on either a fruit, root, flower or leaf day; fruit obviously being the best one to taste wine on. The fact that the wines are made using biodynamic practices just makes it a double whammy and so I had very high hopes for the offerings at The Winery in Maida vale.
My first surprise when I saw the line up of wines was that out of the 10 only one of them was a New World wine, a Zinfandel from the Napa Valley in California, all the rest were from either Italy, France or Germany. There is a misconception that biodynamics is a New World phenomenon when in fact many winemakers in the Old World follow these practices and as with many things in the world of wine, the New World follows the Old. There are many merchants and wine bars these days specialising in organic and biodynamic wine so they really are presenting their case in the market and becoming easier to source locally.
The wines on offer ranged from a crisp appley German sparkling wine in the style of an Italian Prosecco, through to a rich floral Chenin Blanc from Anjou in Loire Valley to a fabulous Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir) from Ahr in Germany and several hearty, heady southern French reds before ending on a juicy, licorice laden Zinfandel from Napa Valley, California. Prices ranged from £9.99 to £22.99 of course my favourite of the day the Spatburgunder came in at £19.99 and was typically the second most expensive. It was fabulous though, I could have quite happily just smelled it for ages, the nose was so complex and dynamic with every swirl; loads of cherry pie, earth, and cranberry with just enough of a savoury, gamey quality to keep my interest.
In honesty none of the wines disappointed but there were realistically only 4 of the 10 that I would have happily bought there and then knowing I’d received value for money. However I refrained from making any purchases as a thought had struck me during the afternoon. If today is the best day of the month to taste wine, what are they going to taste like on a bad day and will I still consider them value for money?
As for the question of whether biodynamic practices produce better wine, I’m not entirely convinced. There were undoubtedly some very good, even excellent wines on offer but had they been compared against non-biodynamic wines of similar quality I’m not sure I would have noticed the difference. A common complaint of biodynamic wines is that they are a tad on the pricey side. Given that biodynamic wine is around 10 times more labour intensive than non- biodynamic wines to produce one can understand why the price tag is relatively high. However if one considers costs on a more environmental stage then biodynamic wines are definitely paying their own way by giving back to the land rather than taking away.
Overall I think I definitely need to drink more wines….er, I mean do more research… before my mind is made up either way but for now I think my safest standpoint is asking the question every time a try a wine, is it good quality and is it value for money? Like everything with wine tasting the concept of value for money is entirely subjective and whether or not I taste on a fruit or a root day to form my opinions just means I’ll have to keep trying. On your behalf of course J.
Tags: Argento competition, Biodynamics
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