A brief breakdown of three key viticultural systems:
Conventional
By no means is all conventional viticulture damaging, but decades of spraying insecticides, fungicides, pesticides can lead to the death of every living thing in the vineyard. In some of the most intensively farmed vineyards the vines are weak, with poor resistance to disease and shallow roots which return to the surface to find nutrients provided by soluble fertilisers. This came about, partly because the growers were tempted to produce higher yields – (more wine equals more income) and partly to avoid risk of disease, which might affect the output. Although many responsible (typically lower yield) wine-makers keep such intervention to a minimum, the fear remains that trace chemicals may be present in the finished wine.
Organic
Here the grower is trying to grow a healthy vine, able to sustain itself naturally and to withstand pests without the use of chemicals. The emphasis is on creating a balanced eco-system in the vineyard, with healthy, living soil and biodiversity around the vines. They encourage grasses, plants and flowers, insects and birds. Often attracting natural predators such as ladybirds to control the less benign insects, such as spiders. Widely referred to as Bio in Europe. Whilst they have much in common, Bio is not the same as Biodynamic.
Biodynamic
Organic viticulture taken to the extreme, ruled by the lunar calendar – man, moon and earth in perfect harmony. Based on a series of lectures given by the Austrian Philosopher Rudolf Steiner to a group of German farmers in 1924 in which he proposed a holistic, spiritual approach to farming, emphasising the interconnectedness of the universe with soil, plants and animals. It’s a self-sustaining, self-nourishing system, in which decisions are synchronised with the Lunar Calendar. Maria Thun (the gnarly German guru who died in 2012) and her son Matthias publish the annual calendar in which, depending on the position of the moon and planets, the lunar month is divided into four types of days. Fruit, Flower, Leaf and Root. Biodynamism captures the imagination with its strange-sounding rituals, such as dynamising rainwater or burying a cow horn filled with cow manure through the winter, and its widespread use of Yarrow, Nettle, Dandelion and Camomile.
Germany
Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Clemens Busch (Punderich) BIODYNAMIC
Harald Steffens-Kess (Reil) ORGANIC
Thorsten Melsheimer (Reil) ORGANIC
Rudolf Trossen (Kinheim-Kindel) BIODYNAMIC
Loch – Weinhof Herrenberg (Schoden) ORGANIC
Rheingau
Peter-Jakob Kuhn (Oestrich) BIODYNAMIC
Fred Prinz (Hallgarten) BIODYNAMIC
Asbach-Kretschmar (Oestrich-Winkel) ORGANIC
Himmel (Hochheim) ORGANIC under conversion
Ahr
Christophe Richter (Ahrweiler) ORGANIC
Nahe
Rheinhessen
Kuhling-Gillot (Bodenheim) ORGANIC
Battenfeld-Spanier (Hohen-Sulzen) ORGANIC
Franken
Bastian Hamdorf (Klingenberg) ORGANIC
Pfalz
Borell-Diehl (Hainfeld) ORGANIC/VEGAN
Pfirmann (Wollmesheim/Landau) ORGANIC
Sachsen
Klaus Zimmerling (Dresden) ORGANIC
Baden
Jurgen von der Mark (Bad Bellingen)
California
Green and Red (Chiles Canyon/Napa) ORGANIC
Porter Creek (Russian River Valley/Sonoma) ORGANIC
Italy
Friuli
Alessandro Vicentini Orgnani (Valeriano/Grave) ORGANIC
Lombardy
Albani (Oltrepo Pavese) ORGANIC-NATURAL
Piedmont
Cavallotto (Castiglione Falletto) ORGANIC
Cascina Corte (Dogliani) NATURAL
Puglia
Tenuta Viglione (Santeramo in Colle) ORGANIC
Tuscany
Il Macchione (Montepulciano) Organic
Terre a Mano (Carmignano-Bacchereto) Biodynamic
Sicily
Guccione (Monreale) BIODYNAMIC
Val Cerasa – Bonaccorsi (Piedimonte/Etna) Organic
Veneto
Valentina Cubi (Fumane) ORGANIC
Bosco del Merlo (Annone Veneto) ORGANIC
France
Burgundy
Michel Lafarge (Volnay) BIODYNAMIC
JN Gagnard (Chassagne-Montrachet) ORGANIC
Oronce de Beler – La Maison Romane (Vosne-Romanee) BIODYNAMIC (very low S02)
Huber-Verdereau (Volnay) BIODYNAMIC
David Juillard – 36eme Ouvree (Hautes-Cotes) ORGANIC
Bordeaux
Chateau La Corne (Le Pian-sur-Garonne) LOW INTERVENTION
Chateau Les Jonqueyres (Blaye) BIODYNAMIC
Peybonhomme Les Tours and La Grolet (Blaye and Cotes de Bourg) BIODYNAMIC
Chateau Fougas (Cotes de Bourg) BIODYNAMIC
Rhone
Domaine Banneret (Chateauneuf-du-Pape) ORGANIC
Aurelien Chatagnier (Saint-Pierre-de-Boeuf) ORGANIC
Pascal Chalon (Tulette) BIODYNAMIC
Saint-Siffrein – Claude Chastan (Chateauneuf-du-Pape) ORGANIC
Domaine Coriancon – Francois Vallot (Vinsobres) BIODYNAMIC
Domaine de Fauterie (Saint-Peray) ORGANIC
Grand Jacquet (Ventoux) ORGANIC
Domaine des Bruyeres – David Reynaud (Beaumont-Monteux) BIODYNAMIC
Loire
Clos des Quarterons (St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil) BIODYNAMIC
Domaine du Bouchot (Pouilly-sur-Loire) BIODYNAMIC
Pascal and Beatrice Lambert – Domaine les Chesnaies (Cravant-les-Coteaux) BIODYNAMIC
Jo Pithon (Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay) ORGANIC
Stephane Orieux – Domaine de la Bregeonnette (Vallet) ORGANIC
Beaujolais
Anne-Sophie Dubois (Fleurie) ORGANIC
Provence
Chateau Vannieres (Bandol) ORGANIC
East
Domaine du Perron (Villebois/Bugey) NATURAL
Alsace
Barmes Buecher (Wettolsheim) BIODYNAMIC
Spain
Cavas Bolet (Castellvi de la Marca/Penedes) ORGANIC
Adega do Ricon (Arbo Pontevedra) ORGANIC
Garmendia (Vizmalo/Burgos) ORGANIC
Bodegas Vinicola Real (Albelda de Iregua/Rioja Alta) SOME ORGANIC
Sedella (Axarquia/Malaga) NATURAL
Hungary
Horst Hummel (Villany) ORGANIC
Champagne
Sabine Godme (Verzenay/Montagne de Reims) ORGANIC
Barrat-Masson (Villenauxe-La-Grande/Sezannais) ORGANIC
Christophe Lefevre (Bonneil/Vallee de la Marne) BIODYNAMIC