TruthBook Religious News Blog

Some very good winemakers have embraced a practice that adds a spiritual level to the vineyard

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BILL ZACHARKIW, The Gazette

Published: Saturday, February 23

"The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion...It should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, and a meaningful unity between the two." - A smart guy who lived a while back

It is difficult to speak of biodynamics without waxing philosophic. Little known to most people, the biodynamic approach to grape growing has become one of the more controversial issues within the wine industry. What began in the early 1990s has developed into a movement whose practitioners include some of the world's best winemakers, and some of the world's most unique wines. The skeptics, who are many, see it as an incredible waste of time and money. For some, it is an affront to science and modern thinking.

So what exactly is biodynamics?

The spiritual father of the biodynamic movement is an early 20th-century Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner. He didn't know anything about wine, but his teachings gave birth to anthroposophy, a spiritual philosophy or, some say, spiritual science that attempts to bridge the gap between science, art and religion.

I am far from an expert in anthroposophy, and it made my head hurt trying to figure out what it's all about. But a couple of the principles it espouses include a "human respect" for the community at large and the belief that every individual has a unique destiny. Aside from biodynamics, the Waldorf school network, which includes close to 2,500 schools worldwide, uses a holistic approach to teaching that is based on these principles.

But what does this have to do with wine?

Biodynamics is often lumped together with organic farming. However, it goes much further. While both rely on organic materials for enriching the soil and shun the use of pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides, biodynamics embraces a much more holistic vision. What I mean by this is that unlike both chemical and organic agriculture, biodynamics is not just concerned with the nutrients a plant needs to grow.

Those winemakers who practice biodynamics view the health of the vine in a more unified ecological vision. They are not only concerned with the plant, they believe the health of the vine and the ultimate quality of the resulting wine is dependent upon the health of a number of life forces - the soil, the people who work in the vineyard, and all the other plants and animals that are a part of the eco-system. Biodynamics is concerned with the subtle manipulation of these life forces, or energies, and aims to work in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

Hmmm.

Now before a bunch of you stop reading and move on to the wine reviews, just open up the left side of your brain and take a leap of faith with me. One, two, three ... okay, jump!

Biodynamics shares much with Chinese medicine, both homeopathy and acupuncture, whose basis is the manipulation of these subtle energies (chi), which they believe are within each of us.

On a practical level, this means biodynamic farmers uses homeopathic doses when treating their plants and the soil. One of the more debatable and oft-lampooned "interventions" are compost energizers that are made from plants fermented in animal bladders and bones, and ground-up rocks. Leaf sprays, used for treating and re-enforcing the vines, are made from the juice of ground-up flowers and other natural sources.

Labels: anthroposophy, BillZacharkiw, biodynamics, holistic, organic, religion, Rudolf Steiner, wine