#1 - How many Champagne estates are currently certified according to biodynamic rules?
41, according to the latest listing available on the Association des Champagnes Biologiques website. This represents less than 1% of Champagne vineyards. Just to give you a little perspective, the Demeter website indicates that 651 wine estates are certified in France or in the process of being certified in 2021. With an increase of +20% between 2020 and 2021.
#2 - Where does biodynamic viticulture come from?
Austrian Rudolf Steiner developed the biodynamic farming method in 1924. However, it would be reductive to limit biodynamics to this far-sighted intellectual and his anthroposophical movement (a philosophical concept that aims to understand the human being). Why should we? Because some biodynamists in Champagne have simply indicated that they are biodynamists without ever having read Steiner ;)
"There are very different profiles in biodynamics and very different ways of practicing it".
#3 - What labels certify that a Champagne wine is biodynamic?
In Champagne, there are 3 labels: "AB", "Demeter" and "Biodyvin". Why AB? Because a biodynamic winemaker is first and foremost a winemaker who has obtained Organic Agriculture certification. Demeter certifies estates as a whole. In contrast, Biodyvin, issued by the Syndicat International des Vignerons en Culture Biodynamique, is dedicated solely to vines and wine.
#4 - What are the foundations of biodynamic viticulture?
Biodynamics is based on common sense, observation and anticipation. It is based on a set of practices: respect for natural cycles (solar, lunar and planetary), compost preparation, the application of biodynamic preparations to plants and soils (which play a central role), and the maintenance of animal and plant diversity.
#5 - Why do biodynamic winegrowers follow the lunar calendar to time their work in the vineyard?
Under the influence of the planets, there are days that are more or less favorable for vineyard management. On "flower" and "fruit" days, for example, biodynamic winegrowers will ideally work on the plant: pruning, disbudding, trimming and harvesting. On "root days", they will work on the root system, such as ploughing. Biodynamic winemakers also take into account the phases of the moon. The waxing and waning moons influence the sap in the vines. During lunar nodes, periods not conducive to viticultural work, they let the vines rest.
#6 - To energize soil life and strengthen the vines, biodynamists use preparations. Which are the best-known?
As the Demeter website indicates, the use of biodynamic preparations is one of the distinctive features of biodynamic viticulture. Biodynamic preparations are made from medicinal plants, quartz and cow dung. These ingredients are fermented in animal organs for several months. Preparation 500, for example, also known as "horn dung", is sprayed on soils to boost fertility and the biodiversity of microbial life. Preparation 503 (chamomile matricaria) stimulates plant growth and strengthens plants.
#7 - What is a biodynamic wine by definition?
"Cellar work can never improve an average wine. Wine is made first and foremost in the vineyard".
To cut to the chase, the aim of biodynamic winemaking is to abolish all oenological inputs and all practices that alter the grape's natural balance. Simply put: no additions, no deletions, no modifications.
Biodynamic viticulture avoids anything that would alter the wine's backbone, and instead highlights the quality of the grapes, the memory of the terroir and the winemaker's state of mind. On tasting, although this will always remain subjective, the wines seem more precise, tauter and deliver a different, more subtle, sunnier energy.
#8 - A final word on biodynamic viticulture?
Far from the esoteric principles that are often attributed to it, biodynamic viticulture is one way among others. Passionate and inspiring, the biodynamic winegrowers we have met are awakeners of consciousness who prefer the quest to the certainty, eternally curious who have always preferred the question to the answer.
Cheers!
* organized by Champagne Lunaire
