mugaliens
09-24-2008, 01:06 PM
"Holy horticulture, Batman!"
Despite it's association with a spiritual world-view, the application of biodynamic agriculture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture)towards viticulture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viticulture)has some little-known benefits.
First, a little background. Most people are familiar with organic farming. Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming which seeks to balance the interrelationships between all flora and fauna on the farm, with a goal of maximizing the health of all areas, such that the health of each, and thus the entire farm, are much stronger. Emphasis is placed on composting, exclusing artificial chemicals, and sowing and harvesting based on astronomical calendars.
On the surface, it sounds kind of neat, but when I looked at some of the preparations, I began to wonder:
"Compost preparation 506: Dandelion flowers (Taraxacum officinale) is stuffed into the peritoneum of cattle and buried in earth during winter and retrieved in the spring."
Now, I thought I'd been around farms enough to know most things, but for the life of me I'm having a difficult time rectifying this with science, and am unable to say what effect this may have, other than making other cattle a bit nervous in the Fall...
Back to wines.
My only experience with growing things organically vs the way they're normally grown is with strawberries. Using common BD techniques, back in high school I grew a patch of strawberries that were to die for, putting anything purchased in the store to shame. Mine even tasted better (in my opinion) than store-bought "organic" strawberries.
Yet several studies have shown no difference in "soil quality, nor in the yield per vine, clusters per vine, and cluster and berry weight."
Ok - so the yield didnt' increase. But BD winemakers claim their BD wines taste better and with richer, better boquets.
Does anyone else have any experience with BD wines? Or BD agriculture in general?
Despite it's association with a spiritual world-view, the application of biodynamic agriculture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture)towards viticulture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viticulture)has some little-known benefits.
First, a little background. Most people are familiar with organic farming. Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming which seeks to balance the interrelationships between all flora and fauna on the farm, with a goal of maximizing the health of all areas, such that the health of each, and thus the entire farm, are much stronger. Emphasis is placed on composting, exclusing artificial chemicals, and sowing and harvesting based on astronomical calendars.
On the surface, it sounds kind of neat, but when I looked at some of the preparations, I began to wonder:
"Compost preparation 506: Dandelion flowers (Taraxacum officinale) is stuffed into the peritoneum of cattle and buried in earth during winter and retrieved in the spring."
Now, I thought I'd been around farms enough to know most things, but for the life of me I'm having a difficult time rectifying this with science, and am unable to say what effect this may have, other than making other cattle a bit nervous in the Fall...
Back to wines.
My only experience with growing things organically vs the way they're normally grown is with strawberries. Using common BD techniques, back in high school I grew a patch of strawberries that were to die for, putting anything purchased in the store to shame. Mine even tasted better (in my opinion) than store-bought "organic" strawberries.
Yet several studies have shown no difference in "soil quality, nor in the yield per vine, clusters per vine, and cluster and berry weight."
Ok - so the yield didnt' increase. But BD winemakers claim their BD wines taste better and with richer, better boquets.
Does anyone else have any experience with BD wines? Or BD agriculture in general?