As we just celebrated Mid Autumn festival (which happens to be a Leaf day according to the biodynamic calendar), let’s look at an intriguing question: what does the moon has to do with wine? For biodynamic producers, the moon has everything to do with wines as they seek to follow when the moon rise and wax to decide how they will tend to their vines. In short, biodynamic producers follow the moon instead of the sun, and by doing so, they believe that strengthen the bond between “everything” – man, nature, soil, all organisms living in the vineyard – in essence, the terroir. Beyond following the lunar calendar, they also stay away from using chemicals in the vineyards, and prepare different kind of biodynamic preparations for compost, pest and disease prevention etc.

Nowadays, biodynamic producers embrace this 1920s school of thoughts on holistic agricultural practices laid down by Dr Rudolf Steiner for few reasons: to enhance soil health and biodiversity, to steer away from the use of chemicals in farming, and ultimately produce more terroir-specific wines with great fruit purity, and complexity potential. Early adopters go all the way back to 1980s when pioneer adopters like Nicolas Joly started converting to biodynamics. In Burgundy, Leflaive was among the first to make biodynamically produced wines in early 1990s. Today, wineries from all around the world – encompassing those who strive to make the best in the region or the world, to those making everyday drinking sips – are converting to biodynamic practices.

As of 2017, biodynamic production is represented worldwide by 639 farms certified as Biodynamic® with the largest number in France (~300) and Italy (>70). The vineyards are ~11,000 hectares; France with 4,700 hectares is the country where biodynamic viticulture is mostly spread. Explore these wines with us on WWX. And oh, here’s a handy tip on how to identify wines that are biodynamically produced: look for additional labels or certifications such as Demeter of Biodyvins.

As a drinker, how do we follow biodynamic philosophies? You can do so by picking the day of drinking by observing the cycle of flower days, root days, fruit days and leaf days. Most recommend drinking on flower days especially for aromatic wines like Pinot Noirs or Rieslings so to best enjoy the perfume of the wines. Fruit days suit consumption of wines of great fruit purity and those are the best days to drink just about any kind of wines. Root and leaf days are both less than ideal for consuming wines as it is believed that the wines will appear more restrained and subdued. Well – it’s good to take a little break every now and then with drinking right?

Want to find out whether today is fruit, flower, root or leaf day? Here’s a handy link. Do note that lunar days do not end the same as our normal days i.e. at 12 midnight. You will see from the biodynamic calendar that some days involve two nature, separated by a time marked in between.

Today we will feature two leading French producers: Leflaive and Zind Humbrecht, both of which are great for fruit and flower day enjoyment. If you are interested to explore more biodynamic producers, here’s some other examples: in New World – Sena, Cullen, Felton Road, Cayuse; and back in Old World – Nikolahof, Domaine de la Soufrandiere, Domaine de la Vougeraie, Gaston Huet, Domaine Tissot, Stella di Campalto (which we feature last week) Jacques Selosse and more.