Applied Biodynamics — Issue 038 (Fall 2002)

Applied Biodynamics Issue 038 is a field-intensive, practitioner-driven issue devoted to viticulture. Rather than theorizing biodynamic wine abstractly, the issue assembles extended interviews and case studies from multiple vineyards to demonstrate how biodynamic principles are translated into concrete vineyard management, disease control, ripening strategies, and economic decision-making.

The lead article, “Biodynamics Brought to the Vine” by Peter Smith, centers on a detailed interview with Patricia Damery of Harms Vineyards & Lavender Fields in Napa Valley. Damery recounts the vineyard’s initial turn to biodynamics under crisis conditions: delayed ripening, vine shutdown, raisining fruit, and market rejection. A sequence of biodynamic sprays applied over approximately ten days is described as coinciding with renewed vine activity—leaves regreening, fruit plumping without irrigation or rain, and rapid increases in Brix levels sufficient for harvest. The account emphasizes observation of plant response, not blind repetition, and frames biodynamics as an applied intervention learned through guided practice rather than ideology.

Damery details an explicit spray regime used in the vineyard across the season, including BD 500, BD 501, BD 505, BD 507, barrel compost, and repeated applications of fermented horsetail tea (BD 508) timed to new and full moons. Compost treatment with BD preparations 502–507, hand application near vines, and gradual, labor-intensive implementation across vineyard blocks are described. The interview addresses ongoing challenges—weed control, mildew, botrytis, frost risk, calcium availability under organic certification—and describes specific management responses such as mulching trials, leaf pulling for airflow, ground cover adjustments, and restrained sulfur use. Distribution and certification realities are treated candidly, emphasizing the economic pressures facing biodynamic vineyards.

The companion article, “Finding Your Way to Biodynamic Wines,” expands the lens to include multiple vineyards across California and the Midwest, including Robert Sinskey Vineyards, Fragrant Farms (Indiana), Everett Ridge Vineyards, Porter-Bass Vineyard, Sonoma-Cutrer, and Frey Vineyards. Through interviews with vineyard managers and winemakers, the article documents diverse entry paths into biodynamics—from formal consultants to intuition-led self-training—and repeatedly underscores trained observation as the deciding factor in adapting preparations to site-specific conditions.

Across these profiles, common operational themes emerge: compost quality as the foundation of vine health; sequencing of sprays rather than isolated applications; vigilance and anticipation in disease management; slow cultivation to protect soil life; reliance on cover crops, teas, and mineral balance; and evaluation of outcomes through vine vigor, yield stability, flavor complexity, and fermentation behavior. Several practitioners explicitly reject marketing-driven adoption of biodynamics, distinguishing farms motivated by land health from those seeking price premiums.

The issue concludes with a substantial review of Nicolas Joly’s Wine from Sky to Earth by Steve Melchiskey. The review situates Joly as a singular figure in biodynamic viticulture, emphasizing the book’s value as the only vineyard-focused biodynamic text of its kind at the time. The review analyzes Joly’s framing of the vine through mineral, liquid, light, and heat processes; his detailed treatment of compost and preparations in autumn and spring; and his discussion of biodynamic principles in winemaking itself. Limitations are noted—particularly the absence of a comprehensive “recipe dictionary”—but the book is affirmed as foundational for serious grape growers. Sensory evaluation of mature biodynamic wines is used to illustrate long-term vitality, aging capacity, and terroir expression.

Collectively, Issue 038 presents biodynamic wine not as a romantic niche but as a disciplined agricultural and cultural practice, tested in vineyards under real climatic, economic, and market pressures.

Articles

• Biodynamics Brought to the Vine (P. Smith) 
  
• Finding Your Way to Biodynamic Wines (P. Smith)
• Book Review – Wine from Sky to Earth: Growing & Appreciating  Biodynamic Wine by N. Joly (S. Melchiskey) 

Key Topics Covered

• Biodynamic crisis intervention in vineyards facing ripening failure
• Observation-based spray sequencing and seasonal vineyard programs
• Use of BD 500, 501, 502–507, barrel compost, and fermented horsetail tea in viticulture
• Disease and mildew management through soil health, teas, airflow, and restrained inputs
• Compost quality and mineral balance as foundations of vine resilience
• Consultant-led versus self-directed biodynamic learning pathways
• Evaluation of biodynamic success through vine vigor, yield stability, and flavor complexity
• Economic and certification challenges in biodynamic wine production
• Terroir expression as an outcome of biodynamic vineyard management
• Critical review of Wine from Sky to Earth as a biodynamic viticulture text

Citation

Source: Applied Biodynamics, Issue 038, Josephine Porter Institute, Fall 2002.