Wine has been made for millennia without pesticides, weed killers or other chemical products. Today, we call this organic viticulture. There is a more conventional viticulture method, however, and this method is one that uses technology in each step of wine production (in the vines, wine making, cellaring etc.). The goal of this method is to produce the best yield or to change the taste of the wine to obtain the desired one, and often both.  Some people would say that we should live with our time, and use the scientific evolution, if we don’t want to remain in an archaic society or sink into conservatism.  I would agree with them, but using scientific steps does not have to be against nature -- both can work together in perfect harmony.

Biodynamic viticulture attempts to meet this challenge.  Biodynamic reconciles organic culture with good yields whilst keeping the real taste of the Terroir.  More precisely, biodynamic viticulture tries to give the vines what they need, when they need it.  In this way there is no waste and the vine is not asphyxiated by chemical products that cover the leaves and smothers the soil such that it becomes impermeable.  Using this method, nothing prevents the photosynthesis of the leaves.  The soil is allowed to breathe and receive water, which enables it to live, and thus offer all its typical characteristics. One could think this is organic viticulture. Where the biodynamic method is innovative, is in its use of scientific knowledge to reach the best quality by knowing when the vine needs something, and what it needs.  We know that when the moon is full there is rising tide because of the gravitational pull of the moon. The same effect happens with a vine’s sap.  During full moon days, the wine grower has to care for the leaves because the sap is attracted to the leaves.  The rest of the time he treats the soil because the sap is in the roots.  When one knows that the sap is like the blood of the vine, and leaves are like its lung, this way of doing things seems obvious.  Indeed, instead of spraying chemical products even if the vine has no diseases, the biodynamic alternative plants roses at the head of every row.  Why?  Because roses are infected about one week before the vine.  Then, just a rose analysis can help to find which disease occurs, and therefore the best way to fight it before vines have been contaminated.

The Maison M.Chapoutier in the northern Rhône-valley producing Hermitage, Crôzes-hermitage and also Chateauneuf-du-pape, is one of 450 vineyards world wide that use biodynamic viticulture.  This choice fits into a wider philosophy -- that philosophy being to create the best natural wine, while solving the day-to-day winemaking problems in the most natural and environmentally friendly way.  Of course that means to be more attentive to each plot of land and therefore requires more work.  However, when it allows one to create a unique expression of an “A.O.C” with the best quality, the work is never too much.