BioDynamic & Religion...(long/pedantic/boring)

WINE TALK
21

I’m gonna trademark ZombieWine. Not sure what it will stand for yet, but Zombie anything sells.

22

Why the major beef with BD? It seems that the worst you can say about it is that it’s ineffective, or at least superfluous to otherwise good vineyard practices. Do you think that BD practices are actually harmful to wine, or is it just the rhetoric that annoys you?

23

Casey, if you look anything like your avatar, then I’d urge you to reconsider [tease.gif]

24

Kind of the latter, Frank, but it’s a bit more than that. First of all, I certainly don’t think BD practices are harmful to the wine. Quite the contrary, actually. I think that most BD wines are probably far better taken care of, but not because of anything that is part of BD. Rather, BD practices require more attention to the vines. More attention = potentially a better product.

However, I have a character flaw that disallows me from accepting something that is without question, absolute BS. I can’t stand superstitions, I can’t stand “Organic,” “balance bracelets,” etc. BD wines fall perfectly within this type of thing. I have gone around and around with quite a few BD winery reps, often the winemaker him/herself and if we’re being honest, I enjoy such conversations. But I refuse to support something that is such blatant BS. (This probably needs it’s own thread. Last time I made a thread about this, though, I got stones thrown at me (different board, figurative stones). [cheers.gif]

25

…I really like Tom’s notes…not sure why…

26

Well…Oliver…they do have their own/unique/eccentric/weird style to them that appeals to some folks!! [snort.gif]

Nebb notes on the way. Your Sella '09 was terrific/dynamite. Loved the tons of new Fr.oak and gobs of hedonistic fruit it showed!!! neener
Tom

27

Not to mention the…hidden Merlot quotient…

28

On my regular pilgrimage to K&L wines, I was offered a rose from South Africa. It had a story. First things first, the rose is wonderful. Very pale rose of mourvedre that I’d pick over a Bandol. Brand is “Circumstance”. The winery makes several wines of moderate price that I was told are equally clean, fresh, varietally true, and have that terroir thing.

The story: The wines are from SA. Ok, I’m with you. THey are grown in an organic fashion. ok, cool. The vineyards are tilled by horse-drawn tools, with the horses providing that organic contribution -ok-, and… the horses are driven by Rastafarians. Well, with a story like that, I had to buy many bottles and start working on my dreads.

I went to the winery’s website, and it was a bit different than I’d expected. Clearly a lot of money into this operation, and dark skinned faces not evident until you look at the video, where the proprietor was extolling the virtues of biodynamic farming, including having Rastafarians in the field because they are closer to the land and nature.

This made my head spin a bit. Is this a way of spinning that blacks only work in the field? Treating Rastas like you’d regard a breed of cattle? It just hurt my head.

But the real question for our biodynamic expert here: Are Rastas part of the package? Are you required/expected to have dreads and spliffs in the vineyard?

I am soooo confused.

But the wine is very good.

Circumstance biodynamic vineyards http://www.waterkloofwines.co.za/biodynamic-farming/biodynamic-organic-farming/