Understanding Biodynamics in Alsace
by bill zacharkiw I was chatting with wine maker André Ostertag next to his vegetable garden in his vineyard in Epfig. We were discussing how his vision of biodynamics had evolved since we had last seen each other three years ago. He suddenly stopped talking and with a note of frustration in his voice said, “you know, when I go to Japan and I explain what I am doing, they get it immediately. Most North Americans just think we are crazy.” I must admit that even though I’m very sympathetic to it, biodynamics can give the left side of the brain a bit of a work out. The biodynamic approach to grape growing has become one of the more controversial issues within the wine industry. The skeptics, who are many, see it as an incredible waste of time and money. For some, it is pure quackery, an affront to science and modern thinking. But what began in the early 1990s has developed into a movement whose practitioners include some of the world's best winemakers, producing some of the world's most unique wines. Many are their respective region’s best producers and the list of those wineries who are either biodynamic or in the process of converting is impressive: Pingus and Clos Martinet in Spain, Clos Jordanne in the Niagara, Joseph Phelps and Opus One in California, Castagna in Australia and Oregon’s Beaux Freres.
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| Pierre Gassmann |
French adherents include the Rhône's Chapoutier, Burgundy's Domaine
Leroy, Comte Armand and Leflaive. In the Loire, there is Muscadet’s
L’Ecu, Nicolas Joly and Domaine Huet. Other high-end producers such as
Drouhin and Romanée Conti have parts of their vineyards farmed
biodynamically.
But there is one region which surpasses all others in terms of sheer
numbers of biodynamic wineries, and is considered by many the spiritual
home of the movement: Alsace. The list is a "who's who" of the region's
best: Domaine Marcel Deiss, Zind-Humbrecht, Weinbach, Réné Muré,
Kraydenweiss, Bott-Geyl, Pierre Frick, Josmeyer, Rolly Gassman and
Ostertag to name but a few. In all, over 30 different wineries are
biodynamic.
Why is Alsace such fertile ground for biodynamics? The reasons are
rooted in the region’s cultural and political history, and how these
influences manifest themselves today are as complicated as biodynamics
itself. But first, what exactly is biodynamic agriculture?
Biodynamics, not organics
Biodynamics is often lumped together with organic farming however there
are some important differences. While both rely on organic materials for
enriching the soil and do not use synthetic pesticides, fertilizers and
herbicides, biodynamics embraces a much more holistic perspective.
Unlike both chemical and organic agriculture, biodynamics is not just
concerned with the nutrients a plant needs to grow.
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| Maurice Barthelmé of Albert Mann
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Those who practice biodynamics view the health of the vine in a more
unified ecological vision. They are not simply concerned with the plant
itself, rather they believe that the health of the vine and the ultimate
quality of the resulting wine is dependent upon the health of a number
of life forces - the soil, the vine, the people who work in the
vineyard, and all the other plants and animals that are a part of the
eco-system. Biodynamics is concerned with the subtle manipulation of
these life forces, or energies, and aims to work in harmony with the
rhythms of nature.
On a practical level, biodynamic farmers use homeopathic doses when
treating their plants and the soil. Some of the oft-lampooned
"interventions" are compost energizers made from plants fermented in
animal bladders and bones, or spraying ground-up quartz on the vine to
increase the luminosity of the sun. Leaf sprays, used for treating and
re-enforcing the vines, are made from the juice of ground-up flowers,
dried plants and other natural sources.
Biodynamics also has its astrological influences. Many biodynamic
winemakers will add compost, spray their plants, work and weed the soil,
and ultimately pick their grapes and bottle their wine following a
calendar that is loosely based on the position of the moon, the stars
and the constellations. As British wine writer and scientist Jamie Goode
put it, "biodynamics sees the farm in the context of the wider pattern
of lunar and cosmic rhythms."
The spiritual father of the biodynamic movement was an early
20th-century Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner. While he knew little
about wine, his musings gave birth to anthroposophy, a spiritual
philosophy or spiritual science that attempts to bridge the gap between
science, art and religion. It espouses a principle of "human respect"
for the community at large and the belief that every individual has a
unique destiny. Aside from biodynamics, the Waldorf school network,
which includes close to 2,500 schools worldwide, uses a holistic
approach to teaching that is based on these principles.
What this has to do with wine, and why Alsace?
Looking east from the vineyards in Alsace you see the Black Forest, and
the border with Germany. Because of this proximity, throughout its
history Alsace has bounced back and forth between French and German
control, leaving it with distinct ties to both. Many still speak the
regional dialect, which sounds German but is loaded with French vocabulary.
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The Deiss man
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When I asked Jean-Michel Deiss about what made Alsatians in particular
so open to biodynamics, he cited the marriage of these two cultural
influences, but what each brought was not what I had expected. There is
a tendency to look upon the French as the romantics, with the German
influence bringing a more dogmatic, logical way of looking at the world.
But it is in fact the opposite.
“The German spirit,” he told me, “is all about a unity. It’s a romantic
sensibility and it’s mythology is tied directly to religion and nature.
The French spirit,” he continued, “is much more rational, it is a spirit
of logic.”
A quick study of the two country’s past and present support Deiss’
assertions. many of the great French philosophers and thinkers, such as
Descartes and Pascal, were rationalists. The world was understood
through logic, through observation. What could be deduced was via a
certain scientific rigour. Across the border, German poet Goethe, was
considered one of the philosophical world’s most important writers of
Humanism. One of the tenets of Goethe’s teachings was that the
individual, to realize his or her own full potential, must develop their
individuality to their fullest, and only by doing so can they fully
experience their own humanity, and thus be at one with all humanity,
including the natural world.
The reality of these influences can be seen throughout the social and
political sphere today. The most telling example is that it was in
Germany, and not in France, where the Green Party gained significant
political power. Deiss mentioned “look at German politics, it is full of
religion.” And while consumer demand for organic produce is growing
across Europe, it was in Germany, and not in France, where this demand
started. Back in 2000, according to The Journal of Agrobiotechnology,
“Germany was the leading country in terms of organic production and
consumption with 28% of the EU market.”
But it was in France, and not in Germany, where biodynamic wine
production took hold. A reason for this might lie with the French
fascination with the concept of terroir. The majority of the wine makers
I talked with believe that is through biodynamic agriculture that the
subtle expressions of soil and climate can be best transferred to their
grapes. As he reached down to pick up a handful of earth, Jean-Baptiste
Bott, from Bott-Geyl, told me “ if you want to get down to the primary,
most elemental part of terroir, you can’t use chemicals. You have to
work with nature, and not against it if you want to express it fully.”
Réné Muré went even further, “you can’t make truly great wine without
biodynamics.”
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| Andre Ostertag and his fave tree |
The biodynamic continuum
Depending on which wine maker you talk with, you see a blend of these
seemingly contradictory influences of French rationalism with Germanic
mysticism. My first question to each of the wine makers was “What
attracted you to Biodynamics?” The responses were varied, but clearly
reflect this cultural duality. “I am a student of Pascale and
Descartes,” proclaimed Réné Muré. “For me, biodynamics is logical,” was
Josmeyer’s Christophe Ehrhart’s response. However, get Jean-Michel Deiss
or André Ostertag talking about the subject and the reasons are much
more a desire to be in a sort of communion with the earth and their
vines. Deiss sees logic as a roadblock. “Sometimes I don’t know why I do
certain things, I just feel the urge to go out and till certain field,
because I have to.” Olivier Humbrecht, who seemed to walk the line in
between the two camps, was more direct, “Organics just didn’t go far
enough.”
I asked Humbrecht to give me an example of what is so logical about some
of his biodynamic treatments and he had no shortage of examples. “Take
stinging nettle for example,” pointing to a tea-like liquid that was
sitting in a plastic container in the corner of his equipment room. “We
spray it on the vines because nettle, no matter what the weather
conditions, will always produce the same amount of flowers. We are
teaching the vine how to deal with vigour”
So plants can learn from other plants. A number of wine makers
reiterated this same principle though Ostertag tied this belief in with
one of the larger principles of Anthroposophy. Biodynamics is not only
concerned with the health of the plant, but the health of the
individuals who work with these plants. “In the modern industrial
system,” said Ostertag “the place of each individual is written down.
Man becomes machine. Biodynamics allows people to exist as human
beings.” I asked him how this approach makes for better grapes. “Plants
are receptive, and not just to what you feed them. The whole concept of
the ‘green thumb’ is based on being receptive to what a plant needs, and
when they need it.”
Réné Muré and Christophe Erhart believe that biodynamics will be shown
experimentally that it works. Deiss and Ostertag see this type of
approach as unnecessary, that the proof is in what you see in your own
vineyard. In fact each wine maker I talked with has his or her own
vision as to what it is. “Biodynamics is about evolution and personal
reflection,” said Maurice Barthelmé of Domaine Albert Mann. “It is about
adapting and preparing the plant.” Olivier Humbtrecht, from
Zind-Humbrecht, remarked that “there is a danger to being too dogmatic,
like the person who refuses a transfusion out of principle.”
But the real lesson here is that we still have much to learn about the
subtle interactions in the natural world. It might be due to that Alsace
is one of the more densely populated areas that has made so many
Alsatians so concerned about their land. Deiss made the point that,
“maybe that has forced us to be more attentive to our environment.” But
whether their approach was more scientific or more romantic, each of the
wine makers talked about making not only wine, but nature even better.
They all mentioned in one way or another what I believe is the real
importance of biodynamics. It lies in a crucial paradigm shift, from
humans behaving as masters of the natural world to that of participants.
Biodynamic agriculture is about healing and protecting the life forces
that sustain the Earth rather than simply consuming its resources. In
light of much of the evidence pointing the finger at humans as being the
culprits behind climate change, dead or sick water systems and putrid
air, maybe this shift is essential if we are to confront these problems.
Albert Einstein once said that "the religion of the future will be a
cosmic religion...It should be based on a religious sense arising from
the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, and a meaningful
unity between the two." When Ostertag told me that not only the Japanese
understood the essence of biodynamics, but us North Americans seem so
resistant, I wonder why we are so hesitant to embrace a different
reality, how are so attached to proof and logic. Perhaps there is a
lesson to be learned from what is happening in Alsace.
