Biodynamics: New Age fad or viticulture of excellence?
Let's be honest. When someone explains to you that winemakers bury cow horns filled with manure to improve the life of their soils, the first reaction is often a polite smile. The second, if you are curious, is to look at who practices it—and then, the smile changes its nature.
Where does it come from?
Biodynamics in agriculture is Rudolf Steiner. An Austrian philosopher, founder of anthroposophy, also known for creating Waldorf schools. In 1924, at the request of farmers who were observing a degradation in the quality of their land and their harvests, he gave a series of eight lectures on agriculture. This was the birth of what would later be called biodynamic agriculture.
The central idea: the farm—or the estate—is a living organism. Not a factory, not a chemical testing ground. An organism that interacts with its immediate environment, with the rhythms of nature, with lunar and planetary cycles. The health of the soil, the plant, the fruit, and the animal are interdependent.
So far, nothing very different from what contemporary agroecology says. It’s afterwards that it becomes... let's say, more original.
The preparations
Biodynamics relies on nine numbered preparations (500 to 508), to be used in infinitesimal doses, dynamized (agitated vigorously in water), and applied to soils or plants at precise moments in the calendar.
The best known, 500: fresh cow manure, placed in a cow horn, buried during the winter, then unearthed in the spring. The resulting preparation is diluted in water and sprayed on the soil to stimulate microbial activity.
501: rock crystal silica, ground into a fine powder, placed in a cow horn, buried in summer, then sprayed on the foliage to promote photosynthesis and maturity.
The other preparations (502-508) are plant-based—yarrow, chamomile, nettle, oak bark, dandelion, valerian—prepared in a specific way and added to compost.
There is also the lunar calendar. According to biodynamics, days are divided into four types based on the position of the moon in relation to the constellations: root days (ideal for soil work), leaf days (pruning), flower days (tasting!), fruit days (harvesting, bottling). Some winemakers organize their work week—and some importers their tastings—based on this calendar.
You can laugh. But look at who is signing.
This is where it gets interesting. The list of estates that practice certified biodynamics (Demeter or Biodyvin) looks less like a hippie directory and more like a list of Grand Crus:
Romanée-Conti. Domaine Leflaive. Zind-Humbrecht. Nicolas Joly. Domaine Leroy. Olivier Humbrecht (Zind-Humbrecht, the only Frenchman to be a Master of Wine for a long time). Chapoutier, in the Rhône and in Australia. Etc.
These people don't practice biodynamics because they believe in the moon as a magic celestial body. They do it because they have observed results—more lively soils, more resistant plants, wines with a clearer expression of terroir.
The question "does it work scientifically?" is legitimate. The honest answer is: not entirely proven by rigorous independent studies in all its components. But the "basic" practices—working under a full moon for certain operations, composting, plant-based preparations—have measurable effects on the microbial life of the soils. What is clearly established is that biodynamic vines produce soils richer in biodiversity than conventional vines. What remains debated is precisely what contributes to this—and to what extent the most esoteric elements of the practice play a role.
What is indisputable: the biodynamic wines from these estates are among the most sought-after, the most expensive, and the longest-aged in the world. Perhaps a coincidence. But a coincidence that repeats itself often.
What exactly is the certification?
Two labels coexist in France and in Europe:
Demeter: the international label, the most widespread, which certifies all biodynamic practices according to Rudolf Steiner's specifications. Requires prior organic certification. Annual inspections.
Biodyvin: a label specific to viticulture, created by winemakers for winemakers. Slightly different in its requirements, just as serious. Brings together several hundred estates in France and internationally.
Both require certified organic as a prerequisite. A biodynamic wine is therefore necessarily organic—but an organic wine is not necessarily biodynamic.
What we think, at LET IT BiB
We aren't going to ask you to subscribe to a cosmology to drink a good glass. But we have a simple conviction: winemakers who work in biodynamics have generally made a global, coherent, demanding choice—regarding their soils, their plants, their way of vinifying. This level of commitment is reflected in the wines.
New Age whim? Perhaps some explanations are debatable. Viticulture of excellence? The empty bottles bear witness to that.
You can find our selection of biodynamic wines in BIB directly on the site—because an airtight pouch that perfectly preserves wine for 4 to 6 weeks after opening is also a way to respect the winemaker's work until the very last glass.