Challenger asked Olga Portnova, the author of the wine and gastronomic project Taste & Travel, a member of the Russian Sommelier Association and brand director of Ian Macleod Distillers in Russia, to tell the whole truth about biodynamics and explain why winemakers bury cow horns and collect moonlight at night.

The term “biodynamics” was first used in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian scientist, philosopher and occultist, in a series of lectures on the restoration of agriculture after the First World War. First of all, he blamed farmers who, due to their excessive enthusiasm for chemicals and technology, did not want to know anything about natural energy or the connection between the earth and space. Steiner believed that it was possible to improve the quantity and quality of the harvest only by synchronizing work in the field with natural biorhythms. His work “The Spiritual Foundations of Successful Agricultural Development” is considered the “bible” of biodynamics. But Steiner’s ideas gained real popularity only in the 70s of the last century, and specifically among winemakers. There are now more than 450 relatively large biodynamic wineries in the world. Most of them are located in France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Austria, but there is also one in Russia - not far from Sevastopol, and belongs to the famous winemaker Pavel Shvets.

Basics of Biodynamic Winemaking

Biodynamics considers the vineyard as a single system. Soil, plants, insects, animals, sun, water, moon, stars - all this equally influences the ripening of grapes and subsequently the quality of wine. Naturally, things like pesticides, chemicals and inorganic fertilizers are strictly prohibited and cow dung is used instead. They fill a cow's horn with it (fertilizer No. 500), after which the horn is buried in the ground until spring. To treat and prevent diseases of the grapevine, the same scheme is done with dandelion, chamomile, tree bark and nettle. The vineyard is processed manually or with the help of animals (horses and cows), mechanical impact is kept to a minimum.

Steiner's followers believe that a favorable atmosphere is the most important component of the daily care of the vineyard. So, some enthusiasts talk to the grape bushes, collect various herbs in the vicinity of the vineyard, make special decoctions based on them and spray the vines with them. And the most progressive biodynamists give each barrel names, such as “Energy” or “Life,” and play classical music in the cellars while the wine is aging. During fermentation, the wort is stirred for half an hour clockwise and half an hour counterclockwise, thus maintaining balance and harmony. Well, and most importantly, biodynamists carry out all work in the vineyard or in the cellars, relying solely on the lunar calendar (and some even collect moonlight in empty plastic bottles at night).

So, here are the basic principles of biodynamics:

1. Care for the vineyard only in accordance with the phases of the moon.

1. Using only organic fertilizers, taking into account natural biorhythms and careful timing.

1. Refusal of mechanized systems: only manual work and use of pets.

1. Biochemical purity of the vineyard.

1. Ideally, a certificate (not all winemakers have the money and time to go through the lengthy certification procedure, so “non-certified biodynamists” are often found).

There are special certification agencies for biodynamic wines, such as the world's oldest Demeter International, Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association in the USA and Biodivin in France. But getting the coveted badge on the label is not so easy, because it is not the wine itself that is certified, but the vineyard. Therefore, before being certified, producers must use biodynamic farming methods in their wineries for three years.

Biodynamics: pros and cons

Biodynamics is first and foremost a philosophy; scientists disown it, considering such methods to be shamanism. And it is precisely because of the “mystical” component that biodynamics has a sea of ​​opponents and critics. But it’s still hard to argue with the fact that such painstaking work and careful care of the vineyard allows one to achieve good, and sometimes simply amazing, results.

As for taste characteristics, it will be difficult for even the most experienced wine drinker to distinguish a regular wine from a biodynamic one. If everything is in order with the wine, then it is almost impossible for a non-professional to discern the difference. And since these wines are more “fragile” and unstable than ordinary ones, non-compliance with the temperature conditions during transportation and storage can greatly harm them, and people may decide that the drink is spoiled. Professionals believe that biodynamic wines have a brighter taste, a purer and more intense aroma, and such wine looks more “alive” in the glass. But this, of course, is all very subjective.

I remember my shock five years ago. At the trendy Copenhagen restaurant Relae, my husband and I ordered red Burgundy wine for dinner and received a strange bottle with an even stranger label: it was written on by hand. But the strangest thing was its contents: some kind of potion, as if a wild genie had burst out of the bottle!

What is this? - I asked the waiter.

This is biodynamic Burgundy,” he replied.

Can I replace it with a regular one? - I asked.

To my horror, having visited all the most famous restaurants of the Danish gastronomic Mecca, I everywhere came across only these seemingly unfermented or fermented wines without any pleasant aftertaste for me, and even from 50 euros per bottle. Why on earth should I pay more for biodynamic Burgundy than for traditional, fine and balanced Burgundy? I was not convinced by the talk about exclusivity, small batches and hand-picked grapes, and most of all, I was infuriated by the talk about how natural should be annoying.

At Noma, the star of world gastronomic ratings, I was answered almost rudely to another groan: real seasonal food should be accompanied by real wines, and if you don’t want it, we can pour you natural juices - from elderberry, for example. No, the truth, of course, is in wine (in vino veritas), but then for the first time I learned that there are some new truths in wine that I have not yet caught up with.

About two years later, I fell in love with Parisian gastrobistros and their amazingly creative dishes. But the same biodynamic madness reigned in them. And then I tried the so-called orange wines for the first time: I suddenly liked the very unusual, intense taste and was simply mesmerized by their deep amber color. It turned out that this is also biodynamics.

Gradually, I began to find interesting red and white biodynamic wines on gastropub menus. And, most importantly, I understood why biodynamics is so sweet to bistromaniacs: as one of my favorite chefs, Jean-François Piège, says, “the important thing is to prove not that you are the best in the world, but that you have the right to always remain yourself.”

How did these strange winemakers manage to “promote” the whole world so much? I answer the questions that I once asked myself and did not receive clear answers.

Biodynamic wine - what is it?

It is a product of biodynamic farming, which, according to the official definition, proclaims “a spiritual, ethical and ecological approach to agriculture, gardens and food production.”

In other words, biodynamics is not only non-aggressive methods of farming that do not harm the earth and nature, but also a whole philosophy of life.

Who came up with all this?

The author of the term “biodynamics” is the Austrian philosopher, writer, architect and mystic Rudolf Steiner. In the early 20s of the last century, he gave several lectures to farmers who wanted to restore their farms as quickly as possible after the First World War.

Listeners complained to the lecturer that the then newfangled methods of treating land with pesticides did not bring the expected results. Steiner offered his own way of healing the earth. A farm, he preached, is a complex organism in which everything is interconnected, and at the same time it is part of the universe.

If a plant is sick, this is a sign of a malfunction of the whole organism. Ideally, a farm should be a self-sustaining system that produces its own fertilizer and animal feed. And in order for world energy to come to its aid, it is necessary to coordinate sowing, weeding and harvesting with the rhythms of the Moon and planets.

For every task - pruning, watering, harvesting - there is a best day in the lunar calendar. Steiner was a holisticist: he believed that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. “Healing” the soil, he said, can only be done with natural, specially prepared additives - extracts from horsetail, nettle, yarrow and other herbs.

And the most effective preparation should be prepared like this: on the day of the autumn equinox, a cow’s horn should be stuffed with manure and buried in the ground, and on the spring equinox, dig up and dissolve the resulting compost in water in order to irrigate the plants with new vital energy. Steiner outlined all these thoughts in his work “The Spiritual and Scientific Foundations of the Successful Development of Agriculture,” published in 1924.

Throughout the twentieth century, people either made fun of this work or admired it. But by the end of the last century, Steiner had definitely become the idol of some European winemakers. Nicolas Joly was the first in France to convert his vineyards in the Loire Valley to biodynamics and achieved the fantastic quality of Les Vieux Clos and especially Clos de la Coulee de Serrant (in Russia, a bottle of the latter costs about 10 thousand rubles).

How is biodynamic wine made?

I was at the winery of the cult Italian biodynamist Joschka Gravner (Friuli-Venezia Giulia region on the border with Slovenia), and he himself showed and told me everything.

Yoshka immediately drew my attention to the birdhouses and the pond next to the vineyard: it is very important that there are many birds that clean the vines from insects, and that the air is naturally moist - after all, there can be no irrigation or other artificial interventions, the vine must work itself , day and night extracting water.

“I haven’t used fertilizers, pollination, drugs or added anything to wine for twenty years,” explains Gravner. — Fertilizers for vines and additives for wine are like drugs for people: at first they seem to give strength, but then they kill. When I was young, I foolishly used antibotrites, but the grapes themselves must fight mold - you can help just a little by removing what is interfering. In addition, there is also noble mold, which only deepens the taste of the berries. And of course, no clarification is needed, no powerful wine presses, no equipment at all, except for a basic small tractor. In nature, everything works as in humans. There is an angel and a devil. We must be careful that the devil does not gain the upper hand. If you kill the red spider, the enemy of the vineyard, you will simultaneously kill its rival. It is important to maintain a balance without chemicals.

- But you add sulfur?

- You need to approach everything wisely. The future wine needs a very tiny amount of powdered sulfur, which we mix with propolis. This creates a natural antibacterial and stabilizing agent. There is more sulfur in vegetables, in fish, in water, in juices than in my wine. We also use little copper, less than half the usual dose. But the main thing is completely different. True winemaking begins with a fundamental understanding: the vineyard and the wine are two inseparable parts of one whole. The wine must be grown like a vine - day after day. It grows with the vine even before the berries appear. A good winemaker is close to the vines every day: to understand the plants, feel them, remove excess.

Gravner, like all biodynamists, is convinced that the main work with good wine is not in the winery, but in the vineyard. Because wine is a child. It needs to be conceived, given birth, helped to grow stronger and raised, but not controlled every minute. It is more important to understand not what you should do with it, but what you should not do.

During the growth cycle, no chemicals should be introduced that harm the balance of the ecosystem, nor should invasive sprays or herbicides be used. You need to make friends with thick fogs and learn to recognize danger, you need to be able to wait and look carefully at the vineyard every day to notice any nuance and ask yourself: is today the right day?

And once the wine goes to the cellar, human intervention is completely unacceptable. All this in biodynamics is called “doing nothing”: study your region, observe the vineyard and nature, follow it, do not destroy the ecosystem, minimize mechanical stress on the vines and berries, do not change the wine, do not pollute it, do not rush it, do not intervene in its development. Then the time will come, and the wine will open to you in your glass.

On Nicolas Joly’s business card it is written: “Nature’s helper, not a winemaker.”

A considerable, if not the majority, of winemakers and wine critics look at biodynamics with skepticism: they say that there is no scientific basis for it. As the clearest example of the madness of biodynamists, everyone certainly cites the very burying of cow horns with manure, the so-called “preparation 500”. Frenchman Nicolas Joly explains:

— 90% of what is born in the vineyard is the result of photosynthesis. The essence of wine is the harmony of light, water and earth. The winemaker's task is to achieve harmony of the elements in his vineyard. Biodynamics is not a set of recipes, but a study of practices that help to embody natural forces in grapes. Manure is also such a lever of vitality.

According to the Biodynamie Services website, "Formulation 500" is a powerful product that "stimulates soil microbial activity, regulates pH, promotes seed germination and dissolves minerals."

When I asked the Crimean biodynamist Pavel Shvets about the “horn”, he threw up his hands: “Yes, I also bury it - maybe it’s strange, but it works. There is something mystical in wine.”

Do biodynamic wines taste much different from regular ones?

Often people feel: this is some kind of unusual wine. At first I probably don't like it. The appearance is also alarming: white ones can be cloudy, and red ones are often less transparent. The smells are surprising: intense, sometimes even wild. But the more you drink them, the more you become attached and begin to appreciate their roughness and emotionality. As Nicolas Joly says, biodynamics are wines of open feelings; they reveal the character of the winemaker no less than the terroir.

Among my favorites are the wines from the Austrian estate Gut Oggau in Burgenland. The vineyard, which is kept by one family, consists of small plots. Each has its own name, and the grapes from each are vinified separately. The result is nine wines named after fictional characters - members of a fictional family. Their “portraits” are on the labels of nine Gut Oggau bottles.

“Naturals” also do not particularly philosophize, but at the same time they are even greater rigorists: “no” is declared even to sulfur, which has been used as a preservative since Antiquity. Because of this, “natural wines” are unstable and difficult to transport.

How many such biodynamists are there in the world?

There are now about 750 biodynamic producers in the world, and there are more and more of them every year. As Nicolas Joly says, when the first of them started, their neighbors laughed at them and considered them sectarians and lunatics. And ten years later they began to ask questions - what and how.

Where can you buy and try biodynamic wines from us?

In online stores. There is a Russian company that specializes in these wines - RAW (Real Authentic Wine). She hosts festivals and supports restaurants and bars with biodynamic wine lists. At first, this kind of establishments opened in St. Petersburg: Big Wine Freaks, “On wine!”, Beef Zavod. Now there is Big Wine Freaks in the capital, as well as Max’s Beef for Money, and biodynamic positions are increasingly appearing in the wine lists of other establishments. Ask and you will certainly find.

10 more famous biodynamic producers in the world:

Champagne and sparkling wines:

• Champagne Olivier Horiot (Champagne, France)
• Champagne David Leclapart (Champagne, France)

White wines:

• Domain Andre et Mireille Tissot (Jura, France)
• Weingut Nikolaihof (Motern, Wachau, Austria)

Red wines:

• Schneider (Thermenregion, Austria)
• Emidio Pepe (Abruzzo, Italy)
• Domaine Leroy (Burgundy, France)

White and red wines:

• Jean Pierre Frick (Alsace, France)
• Grgich Hills Estate (California, Napa Valley, USA)
• Joseph Drouhin (Burgundy, France)

What is organic wine?

Several types of wines fall under the organic status, and not all of them have this particular component as the main one. Actually, organic means using only natural fertilizers. In addition, before putting the coveted organic logo on the label (unified EU certificate, French Agriculture biologique, German Ecovin and Bio, American USDA Organic), the winemaker needs to confirm the biochemical purity of the land (in this case, you can plow with a tractor and harvest grapes with a special combine). Organic, by and large, is only evidence of the environmental well-being of the vineyard.

What about biodynamic?

Biodynamics is a doctrine that grew out of a course of lectures “Spiritual-scientific foundations for the successful development of agriculture” by Rudolf Steiner. In relation to wine, this means caring for the vineyards according to the phases of the moon, following a horse with a plow, friendship with birds and insects, homeopathic fertilizers for the vines - No. 500 (manure aged in a cow's horn) and No. 501 - (quartz aged in a cow's horn) . Biodynamists have their own certificates (Demeter, Biodyvin). All biodynamic wines are a priori organic, but this is not the main thing about them, but the production process, harmonized with cosmic forces.

So, what about the natural then?

In the case of natural wines, also a priori organic, the emphasis is on the natural course of the winemaking cycle and minimal intervention of the winemaker in this process. It includes gentle care of the vineyard, manual grape picking, fermentation with natural yeast, no preservatives and, above all, sulfur dioxide - a classic preservative that prevents bacterial contamination of wine. “Natural” winemakers also have their own labels on their bottles, such as Nature & Progrès, although these are rare.

It is worth understanding that sometimes wine falls into all three categories at once, or even into a fourth. The most odious example in this sense is wines for vegans.

Catharsis - vegan wine

Did you think all wines were vegan because they were made from grapes? But no. Wine production is a technologically lengthy and diverse process, and there is room for a variety of operations. The purpose of the so-called fining is to stabilize and clarify the wine. To do this, you need an absorbent that would absorb all the sediment. Usually substances of animal origin are used for this. Casein (milk protein), albumin (cattle blood), gelatin (collagen, animal bones) and, the most old-school option, egg white. Vegan-friendly options include bentonite (clay) or labor-intensive, slow wine filtration as alternatives. Some of these wines are certified.

Petnates and carbonic maceration

Producers of wines of all styles that interest us also have their own favorite “form factors”, determined by the peculiarities of production technology. This is especially true for those who are interested in more natural wines - they love carbonic maceration (a special type of fermentation in closed vats, which once gained popularity in connection with Beaujolais Nouveau), orange wines (hello, Georgia) and petnats: petillant naturel, they are also PetNat, sparkling wine produced by the “old-fashioned method”, méthode ancestrale, which has existed as long as wine has been bottled, since the second half of the 17th century: the Benedictines from Limoux poured still unfermented wine into bottles, where it fermented further, giving bubbles and sediment . In a word - read back labels more often. Or talk more to the employees of your favorite bars, wine people love to talk too. Below are the most suitable places for such conversations from our point of view.

Big Wine Freaks and Max's Beef for Money

Two Real Authentic Wine restaurants

© Big Wine Freaks

1 of 2

© Maxʼs Beef for Money

2 of 2

Maxʼs Beef, historically the first place in Moscow with a natural menu, is still distinguished today by a good selection of petnuts and oranges. The first, low-alcohol and not too sparkling, are ideal on weekend mornings: German 2Naturkinder from the Silvaner variety, Austrian Fuchs und Hase, PetʼNat Vol 5, a blend of Grüner Veltliner and Welschriesling from Kamptal, sparkling Pignoletto Sui Lieviti from the Vigneto San Vito winery in Emilia -Romagna. The second is a more languid and evening option: Muscat from Roussillon Jolly Ferriol Nature M. or Friulian blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc Radikon Oslavje.

In the flagship Big Wine Freaks, in addition to a large selection of exotic wines by the glass, for some time now natural wines can also be found under Coravin, a device that allows you to keep bottles open for a long time, including wine from Jura from Champs Poids from Jean Francois Ganev, orange Timotheus Weiss from Gut Oggau. There are also naturalists in the champagne wine section - Agrapart, Olivier Horiot, David Léclapart. There are even natural wines from the USA - Oregon's Kelley Fox and California's Elizia. Both restaurants, as well as the “natural store” located door to door with Big Wine Freaks (from 1000 rubles per bottle), are directly related to the wine trading company.

Barrel

Wine bar from Ryumochnaya in Zyuzino

At first, this place at Winzavod raised concerns: would the creators of , one of the most reckless alcohol establishments in the city, which turned the theme of Soviet and post-Soviet alcoholism into art, be able to join the complex, completely differently structured wine history. Everything worked out largely thanks to the bet on exotic wines that could amaze the neophyte. Natural wines are part of this program. The most impressive thing here is the Chilean País Salvaje made from wild grapes. There are also Alsatian Rieslings from biodynamist Pierre Frick and Dorabella, a sulfurless pulsar from Jura. The interior is neatly squeezed into real wine storage vats, and the round holes in the ceiling into which the lamps are mounted are actually hatches.

Tokyo

Vegan, organic and biodynamic wine at the same time

A seemingly ordinary sushi bar almost opposite the Conservatory suddenly turns out to be a godsend for those who like to track international wine trends on city maps. To store the wines selected for the list by Vlada Lesnichenko, a transparent personalized humidor was created in the hall, which has room for everything - biodynamics, natural wines and even more. As you know, the line between organics and biodynamics can be quite thin: one often does not exclude the other, and sometimes the third. For example, Australian winemaker Dave Paxton and his AAA Organic Shiraz Grenache - a wine that is both organic and biodynamic. It would seem that there is much more - but not only. It's also vegan.

"Wine Bazaar"

Organics on Bolshaya Sadovaya

© "Wine Bazaar"

In the “Bazaar” on Sadovaya there is always something to choose from petnats. For example, a cabernet sauvignon petnut from the already mentioned Jolly Ferriol winery from Roussillon, or something from the Fanny Adams line - the fruit of a joint project between Vladimir Basov’s wine trading company and Crimean winemaker Pavel Shvets. For example, Rose Arms, a rose petnat made from Kokur, Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon. As for non-sparkling ones, given the constantly changing weather, there are two options. On cool days, you should pay attention to a natural wine without sulfur called Paeriza from one of the strangest wineries in La Mancha, Samuel Cano, whose bouquet in the glass develops from tones of berries to bright notes of smoked meats. A sunnier option is Raisins Gaulois from Gamay and carbonic maceration guru Marcel Lapierre. Other Wine Bazaars have a smaller selection of organic and natural wines.

William's

Natural and biodynamic in the secret map

Here, biodynamics and natural wines are part of a large and complex program. “We share with our guests what we love ourselves. Therefore, biodynamics, natural and organic are on the map. Not because it's fashionable, but because it's delicious and doesn't give you a headache. The map is updated frequently because drinking the same thing over and over again gets boring. Now we are launching a special secret map in which #people V Various rare items will be found on this topic, but many wines from the main list come to the Russian Federation in small quotas,” says head sommelier Evgeniy Kovalenko.

From Evgeniy’s point of view, biodynamics and natural wines are, above all, fun: “Lluerna Els Vinyerons is “grandmother’s compote,” and grandmother’s compote is always great. Unlitro Costa Toscana Rosso Ampelia - Tuscany, but drinks like juice. Liter. Liter pack of juice. Invigorating juice. Ambonnay Rouge by Andre Beaufort is an elegant piece. The wine does not stand still for a minute - a continuous evolution in the glass. Quiet Champagne is always interesting. Never order Contadino from Frank Cornelissen! Never order if you like lowland Sicilian wine! Etna is not Sicily. But the pleasure is immense.”

"Pies, Wine and Goose"

Organics and biodynamics are not marked in the map, they say, you yourself will understand

© “Pies, wine and goose”

To some extent, the most unexpected establishment on the list. The ironic cuisine of Alexander Zhurkin, as follows from the telling name, rich in associations, is based, on the one hand, on a simple Russian pie, on the other, on farm goose. At the same time, wine here is under the jurisdiction of Anton Panasenko, one of the most knowledgeable domestic sommeliers in the entire short history of this profession in our country. Of course, Panasenko, who started back in the late 1990s (as, by the way, Vladimir Basov from RAW, as well as winemaker Pavel Shvets - all of them from the legendary “catfish” of the first wave), is difficult to surprise with anything, especially with biodynamics, because he started working with her many years before the current boom.

“We have plenty of such wines,” says Anton, but they are on the map not because of this boom, but because they are interesting in themselves, and not because of the production method. We don’t highlight them in any way on the map. What matters to me is not how this or that wine was made, but whether the wine is good. Just as the nationality, religious views and social status of someone are not important to me - if only the person was good! And whoever chooses wines precisely on this basis will find them in our map with his trained eye.” We would dare to recommend something like Chianti Classico from Querciabella, a winery that is vegan, biodynamic and organic at the same time, and their wines have been organic for thirty years.

I Like Wine/I Like Wine 2.0

Organic, natural and biodynamic

© I Like Wine 2.0

“We are interested in working with this segment,” says Elena Lebedeva, head sommelier. - Because we bring the topic of wine to the masses, we talk about it, introduce it, make people fall in love with it. Natural wines are different, they are alive, and you will only find out which wine it really is when you open the bottle. We try to immediately pour these wines into the caraf to give it more freedom and air to fully open. If you start to figure out who actually produces organics, who produces biodynamics, then most of the wine list will contain both, it’s just that not everyone talks about it, not everyone shouts, moreover: many winemakers belong to the mentioned categories - according to default. But natural wines are definitely a separate category that requires explanation and immersion.”

In fact, there is plenty to choose from in all three categories: we can safely recommend paying attention to such wines as the rare Auxerrois variety performed by the main Alsatian avant-garde artist Pierre Frick, the unfiltered orange Traminer from old vines with the telling name Mit Achtung from Lower Austria, nero dʼavola from the main Sicilian “naturalist” Arianna Occhipinti.

Twins Wine Space/Wine & Crab

Wine bar with food from the Berezutsky brothers

© Twins Wine Space

1 of 2

2 of 2

Opened in St. Regis at the beginning of summer, Twins Wine Space is the closest to the wine bar format of all the team’s projects. As usual, the map, although smaller in volume than elsewhere, is still balanced and traditional in the best sense of the word. It seems that there is plenty of biodynamics here, but this is the kind of biodynamics that does not shout about itself with either loud labels or an abundance of certificates. Konstantin Nosach, sommelier of Twins Wine Space and Wine & Crab: “The wine list of Twins Wine Space is based on the classics. Among the natural ones, I can give as an example one rather rare position - a quiet rose wine from the Champagne region, from the Côtes de Bar commune, from winemaker Olivier Oriot, a representative of one of the oldest wine-making families in Champagne. For a long time they sold their grapes, since 2000 they began making still wines, and since 2004 - champagne. They make about ten thousand of all cuvées. The quota for Russia is 180–200 bottles per year. We will be adding similar items to the map in the future, but based on our usual policy, we will only take the rarest and most valuable things on the market.”

Blush Wine Bar

The most inexpensive of all the places on the list (thank you!)

© Blush Wine Bar

Blush, which opened this summer on Daevoy Lane, has finally turned Sretenka into the city’s most actively developing wine route. The name is in honor of one of the types of rose wines. The owner of the establishment is Daniil Shitov. The place was created with the participation of Sergei Antonov, widely known in narrow wine circles, aka “Village Sommelier”, who took part in the opening of the first “Wine Bazaars”, Wine & Crab and many other proper wine places not only in Moscow, but also, for example, in Tambov.

The card is divided into price categories for the cost of a bottle: 890 rubles, 1250 rubles, 1600 rubles, 2150 rubles. and 2800 rub. per bottle. Any ten of them can be opened and sold by the glass at random throughout the day for 230 rubles, 370 rubles, 480 rubles, 610 rubles, including organic with biodynamics - Tuscan red, unfiltered and with wild Nero yeast Camigliano's del Gobo of Sangiovese Syrah, Merlot and white Vermentino, a similarly wild Austrian Grüner from Georg Schneider, and the aforementioned Chilean Pais Salvaje, one of the strangest wines on the market.

Let's figure it out with experts whether eco-methods are “handicrafts” or a new level of winemaking, and whether the method of wine production matters at all.

Why do it simple if it works out complicated too? Organic, biodynamic, natural - these concepts create a lot of shouting and noise among wine lovers today. Marketing gimmick or superfood? Fashion or benefit? We figure it out together with experts, whose opinions do not always coincide. Each of the trinity: organic, biodynamic, natural - is a special approach to making wine. Many equate these three concepts, but this is not at all true. Let's look at each one in increasing order of complexity.

Organic approach

Organic means alive. Just a hundred years ago, all winemaking was organic. Then the science of chemistry came into play - it gave life to synthetic fertilizers and other benefits of progress. The reward was large harvests, victory over weeds, pests and soil diseases, plant mutations, carcinogens in products, and unobvious changes in ecosystems. Refusal of chemical fertilizers, “no” to pesticides and herbicides, use of compost and copper sulfate, pest control using the insects themselves, all this is organic winemaking.

In many countries with advanced winemaking, the state supports the organic direction with subsidies - for producers this is one of the reasons to practice the method. For some, the organic approach is an opportunity to use the organic prefix as a marketing lever, because for a fashionable word and communion with something useful - even though someone here puts big and bold quotation marks - the buyer is willing to pay more. Well, some see behind this a deep meaning and respect for nature.

“We started working with organic, biodynamic and natural wines 3.5 years ago with the launch of the Wine Cabinet. In two wine bars opened last year and this year, “On wine!” the percentage of organic wines tends to 100%. The organic method is the first step in environmentally friendly farming: when working in the vineyard, the winemaker does not use chemical fertilizers. It’s a paradox, but if the winemaker uses traditional, industrial methods during vinification, the wine still falls under the “organic wine” category. Some winemakers who make organic wine do not receive certificates for it - due to the effort, time and financial resources that need to be spent on paperwork. Often they simply don’t need it, because the philosophy is inside them, and that’s enough for winemakers.”

Biodynamic approach

The biodynamic method was invented by the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner a hundred years ago - within the framework of agriculture, in order to increase productivity, enter into unison with the biorhythms of nature and make the most of the energy of the elements: water, light, earth and air. Biodynamists, like organists, care first about the land, and then about the wine. Biodynamists, like organicists, hold the vineyard as part of the ecosystem and grow it without chemical fertilizers - or almost without them. Biodynamics is the same organics, but enhanced by philosophy. One of its pillars is the lunar calendar, which must be constantly consulted.

Biodynamics is the same organics, but enhanced by philosophy.

Like organic wines, a certification system has been developed for biodynamic wines: this is done by special agencies. For example, Demeter International operates in many parts of the world, Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association operates in the States; Biodivin certifies biodynamics in France. To pass the examination and be able to put the appropriate mark on the bottle, the winemaker is checked to ensure he follows the biodynamic method. Not all winemakers spend effort, time and money on certification; moreover, small European producers have been working according to the rules of biodynamics throughout the history of their farming and do not even suspect it. Other farms consciously use a biodynamic approach, but do not advertise it on every corner.

“Biodynamics is an extreme degree of bioapproach, bordering on faith. This is metaphysics in its purest form - the phases of the moon, homeopathic doses of drugs in the soil. It all goes back to Rudolf Steiner, an anthroposophical scientist who worked at the beginning of the 20th century. If you think about it, millions of our fellow citizens are biodynamists. After all, gardener's calendars with the lunar calendar have been and are being published in huge quantities. I don’t want to debunk this method - but here, as elsewhere, there are purists who observe the tenets of the teaching in complete purity, and there is a division into the talented and the ordinary, ordinary. Wine can be healthy and tasteless, natural and uninteresting. The double difficulty is to make an attractive, original, original product from healthy grapes. What is fashion and what is talent? Sometimes these are things that categorically do not coincide with each other.

If you think about it, millions of our fellow citizens are biodynamists.

The bio label sells itself very well - it immediately gets onto individual shelves and sections of wine lists. But this label does not mean a sign of quality, originality, or talent. This is not a medal. In fact, people take years to achieve serious certificates like Demeter or Biodivin, under the supervision of experts and commissions. That's fair enough - but it's not a sign of superiority or guaranteed enjoyment of their product. It is just consistent adherence to certain principles and methods. In general, I have a good attitude towards biodynamics.”

“Almost the entire wine list at BeefZavod is organic and biodynamic. It's not easy to understand at first, but biodynamics is about caring for the earth first and foremost. This philosophy looks at the vineyard as part of an ecosystem and works, among other things, in accordance with the phases of the moon - the moon affects any liquid on the earth, and the nutrition of plants too.

Biodynamics is primarily about caring for the earth.

The use of organic fertilizers makes the vine healthy - a good prerequisite for harvesting a good grape harvest.”

“There is a story called winemaking, and every winemaker has his own. Make more wine, promote the label and sell it at a higher price - this is what large estates and concerns do. Working according to Steiner's ideas, following the phases of the moon and other biodynamism - this is what smaller estates do, although there are also large, famous wineries that practice biodynamics - even in completely commercialized Bordeaux. There are winemakers for whom this is a philosophy and ideology, they have accepted it as a religion and live with it, and there are others - here you will find a more fashionable youth label, bio icons, and other attributes. I don’t put these icons on my wine list - I think it’s an imposition on the guest and has nothing to do with the wine. Although my wine list contains much more than half biodynamics and organics. But when I drink wine, I don’t think about how it was made. It's like you look at a girl and you either like her or you don't.

When I drink wine, I don’t think about how it was made.

I have a rather positive attitude towards biodynamics. The chance of encountering a bad wine among biodynamic wines is lower than the chance of encountering a bad wine among traditional wines. That is, certification from Demeter and other bio-icons can to some extent make the choice easier for the buyer. Biodynamics always costs a little more than regular wine due to greater risks, because biodynamists save themselves from grape diseases using old-fashioned methods. It’s great that you don’t pollute the soil or disturb the ecosystem, but under unfavorable circumstances you can lose 30% more yield than someone who is engaged in conventional winemaking - hence the increase in cost.”

Natural approach

Here it is important not to get confused by the term “natural” - the word is so comprehensive that in some sense it can refer to both organic and biodynamic wine. However, among those in the know, the term “natural wine” is quite independent. If the organic and biodynamic method concerns the cultivation of grapes, then the natural method has a direct bearing on the production of the wine itself. The paradox is that you can find biodynamic and organic wines on the shelf of a wine shop or on a restaurant menu with certified labels - although not all organicists and biodynamists inform the buyer that their wine is exactly that. You won’t be able to find natural wines unless you ask for a cavista in a shop or a sommelier in a restaurant.

The intrigue is that natural wine is not certified - and this is also why naturalists receive complaints and questions. An example they like to give: there are two apples - regular and farm. The first is strong, glossy and can be stored for a hundred years, the second has a less attractive presentation, quickly deteriorates, and is not easy to transport. If you want naturalness, take a risk and eat farm food. If you want reliability, choose the usual one.

They harvested the crop, filled it with grapes, fermented it - what happened was what happened.

Naturalists love wine so much that they don’t want it to suffer. Their task is not to spoil what nature has done. Therefore, naturalists first grow grapes according to the principles of biodynamics and organics, and then make wine from these grapes manually, without adding anything extra. Yeast is only wild, which is contained in the berry skin. Sugar is only what is in the berry itself. Naturalists say “no” to the main preservative and stabilizer of wine - sulfur dioxide - and do not filter the wine. Roughly speaking, they harvested the crop, filled it with grapes, fermented it - what happened was what happened.

Natural wines are mostly made by small wineries of the Old World - these are France, Italy, Austria, Germany; autochthonous varieties are more often used - this is part of the general philosophy of returning to the roots. The absence of filtration, cultured yeast strains and sulfur dioxide is what makes natural wine extraordinary. And unpredictable - without stabilizers, wine often behaves unexpectedly, and instead of a wow effect, you can get disappointment. But those who don’t take risks don’t drink champagne—to form an independent opinion about something, maybe it’s better to try it?

Evgeny Shamov, head sommelier of the restaurant:

“There are a lot of natural wines in our wine list, you can judge by the sparkling section alone: ​​among the ten positions, eight are natural wine. Raw wine is, first and foremost, a technology of non-interference in natural processes. Many people make the mistake of speaking separately about natural wines, breaking away from the general context of care and nature. Wine is a link in the chain of history and culture of mankind. “Naturals” try to see wine in its original form. Many consumers don’t like this - why did humanity work and improve wine technologies for centuries, so that now all these developments can be forgotten, crossed out and returned back to the Stone Age? But what makes wine so charming is its diversity.

Raw wine is, first and foremost, a technology of non-interference in natural processes.

There are many myths surrounding natural wines. For example, that sulfur dioxide is not added to natural wine. But during the vinification process, sulfur dioxide is produced on its own. They say that natural wine spoils quickly - but there are natural wines from Europe that are perfectly preserved for twenty years or more.”

Evgeniy Litvyak, managing partner of bars,:

“On the shelf in the Na Vina bars there are about 350 items from more than 100 estates - we know many winemakers personally, what they do for a living and how they produce wine. We are for wine to be made not by a large factory, but by a specific person. Small farms, before entering into cooperation, spend a long time figuring out who the people are who will sell their wines and how close they are to them in spirit; they have made wine production their life's work, and they care. Among our guests there are those who come just to drink wine. We don’t say: “Hey, it’s unfashionable to drink regular wine now, why are you drinking industrial crap, let’s pour you some natural wine now!” We get to know each other, find out what the person likes, try to choose a wine to suit his taste, and after establishing contact we can gently offer something to suit our taste. It happens that a guest remains with his own taste, this is his right. And sometimes he begins to try something he has never tried before and gets drawn into our philosophy.

It’s a myth that what’s natural is necessarily game in a bottle.

Natural wine is not always cloudy and has an aroma that overwhelms you. It’s a myth that what’s natural is necessarily game in a bottle. Many natural wines are clean and smooth. Yes, natural wine is less stable, but the palette of aromas and tastes is wider and brighter. We take Chilean cabernet sauvignon - according to the classics, we feel the aroma of black currant. We are trying to find something else - it’s difficult. We open the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with artificial yeast and you can clearly feel the gooseberries. We open natural wine - there are fresh berries, and dried ones, and undergrowth, and animalistics, and leather. To the uninitiated, I would advise starting with organics. The second step is biodynamics. And only then try natural things.”

Dmitry Zhurkin, import director of the Ladoga group:

“The topic of natural wines is fresh and nervous, the words must be carefully chosen. I have a wary attitude towards natural wines - they are also called “truly real”, authentic ones. In my opinion, a certain line has been crossed here with a great deal of self-confidence, and we find ourselves in an area of ​​colossal uncertainty. Biodynamics and organics produce a product of varying degrees of talent, but unconditional safety; this is a modern product and under some control. And raw wine is a thing in itself, where the criteria are postulated, but not controlled, the rules are not common to all participants.

The phenomenon of raw wine arose at a very favorable moment, when everything that is now called craft entered the market. There is no direct translation of the concept “hand made” in Russian; you have to use foreign words - artisanal, craft. And if you start to honestly analyze this method, the word “handicraft” fits. The followers of raw, in a sense, are themselves to blame for this - many issues are dumped into the plane of opposition between friend and foe. Of course, there are interesting examples in the raw method; for example, I tried natural wines in the south of France with Gerard Bertrand. But Bertrand will make any wine talented, because he is a talented winemaker, the brightness of his natural wines is caused not so much by the natural method, but by general competence.

If you start to honestly analyze this method, the word “handicraft” fits.

The wine can be normal, just in good condition, or it can be bright and talented. But with natural wine, sometimes it's not a question of whether it's bright or interesting, but whether it's drinkable at all. Unfortunately, there are a huge number of people working in this movement whose wine I refuse to drink. I don’t perceive many samples as something well made and something that can be preserved.

I have a good attitude towards the possible prefixes bio, organic, natur, I am against rabid groupism and sectarianism. There are correct and incorrect wines. There are talented and untalented. From these positions I judge any wine. More often than not it was a bad experience when I tried natural wines; more often they turned out to be substandard. And we roll back to the 12th century, to the pre-Cistercian era, when wine was made from grapes. And since the Cistercians, humanity has increased progress, and we have received modern wine, which makes us very happy.”

Leonid Sternik, sommelier and co-owner of the restaurant:

“There is zero natural wine on my list. I wouldn’t call cries about natural things fashion—they just gave people something new and started to fool them. If you drink natural wine, it is done at the place of production; it is practically not transportable. You will understand the true value when you put a few bottles in the cellar for at least five years and see what happens! It is not a fact that two identical bottles will remain the same, that they will not turn into vinegar and will not foam. There are no comrades in taste and color - some drink mass-market beer, others choose fiercely bitter craft beer. If a person drinks natural wine and believes that he is “natural”, that is his right. But I am for reasonable winemaking.

I wouldn’t call cries about natural things fashion.

For naturalists, the light has converged like a wedge on the main stabilizer of wine, sulfur dioxide. But serious producers make great, fine, elegant wines with minimal sulfur intrusion. Few people understand how much sulfur is in Lafite or Romane Conti - in cult wines that define more than an era in the development of winemaking. If a person has hands, knowledge and experience, he will make good wine. It’s up to you and me to decide how good it is.”

At the entrance are bottles for wines from the Jolly Ferriol farm in France.

Photos: realauthenticwine.ru, Anton Kuznetsov, social networks of projects.

The last decades of the 20th century were marked by the revival of the theory of biodynamics in viticulture and winemaking, primarily under the auspices of the purity of the resulting products. People are willing to pay more to get an environmentally “clean” product that manufacturers so tempt under the “Bio” brand. The bustle and whirlwind of life’s affairs and problems do not leave a modern person a chance to pause, press “stop” and look around, much less sacrifice such a valuable resource as time, and try to understand and figure out what it is all about such as biodynamic farming and its products in relation to viticulture and winemaking. And that is why this movement has confidently occupied its niche in the global economy.

What is biodynamics?

The founder of the teaching of biodynamics was the Austrian doctor of philosophy, teacher, lecturer and social reformer, esotericist, occultist, clairvoyant and mystic of the 20th century, Rudolf Joseph Lonz Steiner. He himself was never involved in agriculture, did not have a vineyard, and in general, as his contemporaries wrote, he was a convinced teetotaler. Nevertheless, his ideas had a huge impact on the development of viticulture in the world.

Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steiner_um_1905.jpg

R. Steiner outlined the theory of biodynamics in a series of eight lectures that he gave in June 1924. Among his listeners were many German winegrowers. At the same time, Steiner did not think at all about the need to search for evidence confirming his agronomic theories.

The basic concept of biodynamic wine production is to treat the vineyard as a single system, in which plants and soil are only two components among many others. Everything from the plants to the animals living on the site, as well as the water, sun, stars and moon are seen as having a direct impact on the health of the vineyard and grapes. In this regard, biodynamic winemaking is based on an accurate observation of nature and an attempt to keep its various components in balance. Biodynamic wine is necessarily 100% organic. In addition, the winegrower uses many other specific techniques in an effort to work the land in complete harmony with nature.

According to Steiner, plant disease is not a problem that should be eradicated, but a sign that its natural immunity is weakened and it is time to take action. The task of a biodynamist is to create a balance between the energies of the earth and space and maintain the health of the plant. In this case, a strong vine will produce high-quality grapes that maximally reflect the properties of the terroir, and there will be no need to carry out artificial manipulations or resort to technological refinements during vinification. At the beginning of the century, artificial yeast, reverse osmosis, cryomaceration and other novelties of its second half were not yet known. Today they are prohibited in biodynamics. In general, according to biodynamists, there is no need for them, because there is no need to improve the wort. Thanks to the natural strength of wine, bottling can be done without fining or filtering and sometimes without adding sulfur dioxide (SO2) at all. At the same time, long life and development are ensured for the wine.

There are a number of special substances and techniques that are used in a biodynamic vineyard. Many of them may seem quite strange to a person far from biodynamic farming. Thus, the use of cow horn, which is filled with cow manure and buried on the site until spring, is the object of constant ridicule from critics of biodynamics. However, proponents of this doctrine are convinced that such methods increase the vitality of the vineyard, helping to improve the quality of the wine.

Instead of chemical plant protection products, the use of which is strictly prohibited, homeopathic doses of various plant-based substances are used to treat and prevent vine diseases: chamomile, tree bark, dill, dandelion or valerian. It is the application and, above all, careful timing of the use of these preparations that distinguishes biodynamic winemaking from organic. Some biodynamists react quite painfully if biodynamics is confused with “merely” organic farming, while many proponents of the organic approach are wary of the ideas of Rudolf Steiner.

According to Steiner's followers, biodynamics goes further than organic farming. The occult aspects, together with the philosophical current attached to them, give biodynamics its originality. Here are the “astral energy flows” necessary for the effective use of mineral substances by the plant, and the influence of the Sun, Moon, planets of our Galaxy and stars on the growth and interaction of living objects on Earth, and water, which has “memory”, and its use for fertilizing soils and pest control with specially prepared compost with the inclusion of homeopathic medicines, and the preparation of “biodynamic manure” - the same one that is prepared on September 22 of each year in the form of a buried animal horn.

Therefore, biodynamics is more of a philosophical doctrine rather than a scientifically based and reliably studied method of farming.

A little history.

Man began to cultivate the land more than 6 thousand years ago and, thereby, marked the beginning of the development of agriculture. Since then, the cultivation of plants for human economic purposes has become an integral part of human existence. The development of agriculture kept pace with the development of civilizations; it was an indicator of the well-being of states. It was only when the development of agriculture moved from the extensive type to the intensive type that people began to notice not only a qualitative and quantitative breakthrough, but also its negative consequences.

Something needed to change.

Photo: https://my-shop.ru/shop/books/1590430.html

The roots of contradictions in agriculture can be found already in the doctoral dissertation of S.N. Bulgakov “Capitalism and Agriculture” (1900), the main conclusion of which was that the forces of nature are alien to human interests. One of the founders of modern ecology, Yu. Odum (1975), adhered to the same version, according to which the divergence between the strategies of man and nature is due to the fact that if nature strives to increase gross production, then man strives to increase net production. In all current interpretations, agroecosystems are characterized as artificially created, unstable, requiring constant expenditure of fossil energy to ensure productivity and ecological balance. At the same time, it is often erroneously stated that in agroecosystems there are supposedly completely no mechanisms and structures of self-regulation, including the action of natural selection.

Meanwhile, it is obvious that the maintenance of soil biogenicity and fertility, the manifestation of the “pesticide boomerang” effects, and the adaptive reactions of numerous biotic components of agrobiogeocenosis are not at all subordinated only to external goals due to external control, but occur mainly according to the laws of freely flowing natural biological processes. This means that, under certain conditions, almost any agrobiogeocenosis is capable of some degree of self-regulation, which can help increase its resistance to changes in external conditions. Under the influence of certain environmental factors, a specific ecosystem (including agrobiogeocenosis) can be in a stable state for as long as the effects of specific factors are within the limits to which it is historically preadapted.

"Green Revolution" in the 20th century. brought fundamental changes to food production, but the industrial structure of the agricultural sector that it formed, aimed at maximum efficiency, led to a number of problems in the global agri-food complex at the beginning of the new millennium, one of which was the excessive chemicalization of agricultural production.

The practical implementation of the concept of chemical-technogenic intensification of agriculture, which dates back to the beginning of the 20th century (S.N. Bulgakov, 1900), began in the late 1940s - early 1950s. However, already in the 1960s. It became obvious that such a one-sided approach would have the most negative consequences in terms of environmental protection. These include the destruction and pollution of the biosphere, a decrease in the biological diversity of the animal world, the increasing dependence of agriculture on climatic and weather conditions, etc.

All this caused increased interest in alternative farming systems (bioorganic, biodynamic, ecological, etc.), the beginnings of which arose in the 1920s and 1930s. based on the natural philosophy of Rousseau, Goethe and others.

Since the 1960s The concept of harmonious development of society and nature, man and the biosphere began to gain increasing strength. Initially in agriculture, this was expressed in the implementation of the ideas of biological, organic, biodynamic, ecological and other farming systems. To date, alternative systems to chemical-technogenic agriculture are quite numerous.

However, already in the 1980s. The unacceptability of both the predominantly chemical-technogenic intensification strategy and the proposed alternative farming systems became obvious. In this regard, more and more attention in the world scientific community began to be paid to the search for other ways.

In our country in 1979 - 1980. the concept of adaptive intensification of agriculture was proposed, which, under conditions of strict administrative control and “titular” planning, did not, and could not receive, widespread support. It seemed that the situation might change significantly in the early 1990s. However, in the conditions of general economic devastation and the spontaneous collapse of agriculture, only some aspects (mainly in terms of low-cost and biologization) of the adaptive strategy turned out to be in demand, while its strategic orientation towards the pervasive knowledge intensity of intensification processes still remained beyond understanding.

It should be taken into account that currently, in most developed countries, priorities, ideological and methodological approaches in the agricultural research system are changing. At the same time, special attention is paid to the fundamental processes occurring in agroecosystems, and interdisciplinary research covering technological, environmental, social and economic issues is becoming prevalent.

People working on the land are beginning to understand the seriousness of the problems that have arisen and are striving to find a compromise with nature.

Biodynamics abroad.

The popularizer of biodynamics in viticulture and winemaking was the French wine specialist Nicolas Joly, whose business card invariably says: “Nature’s helper, not a winemaker.” The real meaning of this phrase is that wine is created in the vineyard, not in the cellar.

Due to a number of “mystical” components in the teaching of biodynamics, it has many ardent critics and opponents. There is an opinion that, in fact, biodynamic winemaking is indistinguishable from organic winemaking, and all mystical rituals are just shamanism. However, despite the existence of many sometimes contradictory opinions on this subject, one thing is indisputable: the complexity of the rules of biodynamics and the extremely high level of vineyard care that these rules require allows us to achieve very good and sometimes amazing results. The commitment of winemakers to this philosophy and methods, which require enormous and careful work, testifies to their attitude towards wine - not as a commodity, but as a living being.

Photo: http://thoughtsaboutwine.blogspot.ru/2013/09/blog-post_24.html

But for almost twenty years, Joly and his colleagues were considered sectarians, accused of mysticism and basic madness. But since such famous winemakers as Laloux Bize-Leroy from Domaine Leroy (Burgundy), Michel Chapoutier (Hermitage, Rhone Valley), Olivier Humbrecht (Domaine Zind - Humbrecht, Alsace) joined the ranks of biodynamists, the scales swung to the other side. Several Frenchmen, led by Joly, created the organization La Renaissance des Appellations - "Renaissance of the Appellations", with the goal of reviving the true taste of the terroir. Today there is a commission of seven people, and each time during the tasting they look for “elements of authenticity” in the wine and evidence that the vineyard truly existed in harmony with the surrounding world.

There are currently more than 450 relatively large biodynamic wineries in the world, including some renowned producers in the leading wine regions of France, USA (California), Italy, Germany and Australia. Among them we can mention the famous Burgundian estates Domaine Leroy, Domaine des Comtes Lafon and Domaine Leflaive, famous wineries from Alsace, for example, Domaine Zind Humbrecht. Domaine Bott-Geyl and Marc Kreydenweiss, as well as the estate of Jean-Marc Brocard, a winemaker from Chablis who fiercely defends the idea of ​​maximum expression of terroir.

Alain Moueix, owner of the equally famous Petrus, emphasizes that a winemaker who decides to get involved in this must himself have an inexhaustible supply of energy, since the amount of work in the vineyard increases significantly. As an experienced agronomist, Muex denies the esoteric aspect of biodynamics, but he considers it in any case a positive phenomenon, since it forces you to spend more time in the vineyard, treat it more carefully, which cannot but have a positive effect on the health of the vines and the quality of the grapes. However, it can hardly be said with certainty that they all owe their excellent wines solely to the use of this system.

Photo: http://thoughtsaboutwine.blogspot.ru/2013/09/blog-post_24.html

There are special certification agencies for biodynamic wines. In most countries of the world there is a certification organization Demeter International, in the USA - Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association. In France, biodynamic wines are certified by the Biodyvin agency. Before being certified, wine producers must practice biodynamic farming methods in their vineyard for three years. The largest number of biodynamic farms are found in France. Among the winemakers certified by the Biodyvin organization are even representatives of the most skeptical of all French regions - Bordeaux. What's more, the southern French wine commune of Les Baux de Provence may soon become the world's first fully biodynamic appellation.

Prospects for biodynamics in Russia.

The modern grape and wine industry of the Russian agro-industrial complex is economically and socially significant. The production of grapes is more profitable compared to the production of annual crops (based on the amount of profit per unit area). Industrial viticulture involves significant labor resources in the production process.

In the course of systematic development, viticulture acquired an organized character for the production of high-quality grape and wine products with concentration in the most favorable soil and climatic conditions of the Crimea, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Rostov Region, the Republic of Dagestan, the Chechen-Ingush and Kabardino-Balkarian Republics.

Most large companies, in whose hands the main area of ​​grape plantings and a larger volume of wine products are concentrated, are characterized by a structural organization that corresponds to the maximum economic efficiency of the resources used. The overwhelming majority of producers are focused on the mass consumer, who often cannot afford “top” wines. Therefore, ensuring the minimum cost of the final product, companies minimize costs at all stages of its creation: in the vineyard - a low-cost type of trellis system, types of bush formations with free hanging shoots, a minimum of manual and maximum mechanized labor, the highest possible yield; at the factory - cheap yeast, without aging in oak, with the shortest possible production-sales period.

Of course, many companies also have “top” lines of wines, but, compared to the production volumes of ordinary table wines, their share is undoubtedly small.

As for the application of the biodynamic approach in production, which, on the contrary, requires maximum attention to grapes and wine, significant investments of manual labor and “reliance” on the benevolence of cosmic forces, its absolute economic inexpediency and uncompetitiveness in the conditions of the existing production structure of most domestic companies becomes obvious.

And since the production of biodynamic wines begins from the vineyard, I will try to explain some of the problems that beginning biodynamic wine producers in our country may encounter at the very beginning of their journey.

Soil resources. The soil cover of southern Russia is very diverse - from fertile black soils to poor eroded or saline soils. The share of the latter, by the way, is steadily growing every year.

A complex of soil properties such as mechanical composition, structure, thermal, water and air regimes, physical and chemical characteristics and the activity of microorganisms determines the development of plants, their longevity, active fruiting, resistance to adverse environmental factors, the size of the harvest and its quality. Most soils used for growing grapes in our country do not have optimal values ​​of the above properties and indicators. It is necessary to carry out chemical reclamation, systematically apply calculated doses of fertilizers (including inorganic ones), and select stable rootstock-varietal combinations. Such soils do not even comply with the principles of biodynamics (“healthy soil means a healthy and strong plant”).

In addition, a competent soil scientist or an experienced agronomist can tell you that the soil cover is usually as variegated as a gypsy lady’s skirt, and soil differences can replace each other within 1 hectare several times even on seemingly flat terrain. Therefore, planting an array of grapes on one type, subtype, etc. soil can cause very great difficulties or become completely impossible.

Planting material. To plant a biodynamic vineyard in Russia, you need absolutely healthy and strong seedlings made from local varieties adapted to the given region. This means that imported planting material (France, Italy, Austria, etc.) is completely unsuitable for these purposes. Locally produced seedlings are required.

In the Krasnodar region there are nurseries within the structure of large companies, but they produce seedlings primarily for the needs and requirements of their viticulture divisions, and do not cover the volumes required for other producers. Doctor of Biological Sciences L.P. Troshin speaks about this: “Every year, the area of ​​new grape plantings in the region increases by several thousand hectares, mainly due to the introduction of imported planting material. However, winegrowing farms still continue to lack seedlings of the required varieties and clones.” In addition, the existing quality of domestic planting material leaves much to be desired in many areas (purity, absence of viral diseases, quality of fusion between rootstock and scion). Over the period 1965–2012, in the Krasnodar Territory, the survival rate of grape seedlings that comply with GOST standards was 50–92%. Repeatedly, young plantings at the age of 2–3 years in some areas completely died. One of the main reasons for their death was intense damage by vascular necrosis and a latent form of bacterial cancer.

Therefore, when purchasing imported (because it is high-quality) planting material, biodynamists can only believe that the vines, under their strict guidance, will live a “long and happy” life.

Plant protection products and fertilizers. This is a separate and pressing topic from the perspective of biodynamics, since almost all chemicals are not used in it. substances designed to protect the grape plant from diseases and pests. An exception is made only for sulfur, copper, plant infusions, the use of some biological products and insect corpses. By the way, many of these drugs are not registered in Russia.

Grapes are affected and damaged by about 700 species of pests, while on specific tracts, as a rule, no more than 15–20 species develop simultaneously. Annual grape harvest losses from the activity of pests and pathogens alone in the world reach up to 30%, and in some regions they can exceed 50%. In the temperate continental climate of southern Russia, with increased temperature and humidity throughout almost the entire summer period, even modern chemicals can resist fungal diseases (oidium, etc.). It is very difficult to use drugs, but it is impossible to use decoctions and tinctures of chamomile, nettle, yarrow or other herbs. Using only the arsenal of a biodynamist, you can completely forget about the harvest during the years of epiphytotic development of diseases and outbreaks of harmful insects. And in addition to this, a good supply of infection will accumulate for the next years, which will remain on the remains of damaged vines and fallen leaves.

As for fertilizers, this issue is no less acute. Optimization of grape nutrition is one of the effective, cost-effective segments of technology that preserves and increases soil fertility, plant productivity, resistance to unfavorable environmental conditions - low temperatures of the winter months, their sudden changes when plants emerge from the deep dormancy stage, during prolonged droughts or heavy rainfall , high humidity during the growing season and the beginning of berry ripening. It is all the more difficult to imagine an agronomist who will not use amino acids to restore plants after low-temperature stress or will not add additional doses of potassium to prevent dry years.

Production structure and conclusions. As is known, biodynamics does not consider a plant in isolation from its surrounding ecological system. Animals, birds, insects, other types of plants (including those that, based on their properties, are considered weeds), the energy of the Sun, stars and planets - all this is a single whole, everything is included in the production array, because all these factors must be used together to achieve the desired result.

I will not go into detail about how it will ultimately look (you can get more detailed information on the official website of the Biodynamics Association - www.biodynamics.com). I will only say that in Russia at the moment this model can be implemented by relatively small farms. But it is completely inapplicable for industrial production due to its significant volumes and orientation towards a different consumer segment of the market.

At the same time, a comparison of the best farms using technogenic-biological and biodynamic farming shows that the grape yield in the latter is significantly lower. It is typical that biodynamics does not use marginal lands either, since the reduction in yield on them is too great.

Most researchers believe that farms with a biodynamic farming system provide profitability only due to the price environment, which is usually 2-3 times higher than the market average, in cases where the demand for their products exceeds supply. It is believed that with the increase in the number of biodynamic farms, the economic basis of their existence will also be undermined, i.e. the ability to use demand and price conditions.

Therefore, all novice biodynamists need to be prepared for the fact that in the first few years they may not get a harvest at all, as such, not to mention any payback or profitability of the entire project.

List of sources used.

1. Alimov A.F. Elements of the theory of functioning of aquatic ecosystems. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2000.
2. Zhuchenko A.A. Adaptive plant growing (ecological and genetic foundations). Theory and practice. In three volumes. // – M.: Publishing house Agrorus, 2008.
3. Serpukhovitina K.A., Khudaverdov E.N., Krasilnikov A.A., Russo D.E. Microfertilizers in viticulture. RASHN GNU SKZNIISiV. – Krasnodar, 2010.

1. Belousova E.A. Modern problems of development of the world agri-food complex. // - News of the Irkutsk State Economic Academy. - 2014. No. 6 (98). ISSN 1993-3541
2. Neznaeva A.M. Soil and environmental factors determining the growth, development and quality of grapes. // Scientific journal of KubSAU, No. 32(8), 2007.
3. Talash A.I. Adaptive-integrated system of grape protection in the south of Russia. // Fruit growing and viticulture. UDC 632.634.8, 2014
4. Talash A.I. The problem of bacterial cancer in the vineyards of the Krasnodar region / Mat. All-Russian scientific-practical conf. “Bacterial plant diseases - a global problem of our time”, Krasnodar: KubGAU, 2009.
5. Talash A.I., Drobot K.O. The role of planting material in stabilizing the productivity of vineyards // Mat. Intl. scientific-practical conf. “Criteria and principles for the formation of highly productive viticulture”, Krasnodar, 2007.
6. Troshin L.P. Innovations in Russian viticulture. Preface. // Scientific journal of KubSAU, No. 53(9), 2009.

Internet:

1. Thoughts about wine (2013). Biodynamics and “smart” viticulture... URL: http://thoughtsaboutwine.blogspot.ru/2013/09/blog-post_24.html, February 6, 2018
2. VINMOLDOVA.MD Winemaking and viticulture. “Biodynamic” wines: a tribute to fashion or a pursuit of health? URL: http://vinmoldova.md/index.php?mod=analytics&id=1754, February 6, 2018
3. VINMOLDOVA.MD Winemaking and viticulture. “Preparation 500”: One of the fundamental concepts in biodynamics. URL: http://vinmoldova.md/index.php?mod=content&id=2564, February 6, 2018
4. Why Why Wine. Preparation 500. URL: http://whywhywine.ru/stati/pravila-vinodela/-/preparat-500, February 6, 2018
5. Eastern European Association of Sommeliers and Experts (2010): Biodynamic winemaking: myths and reality. URL: http://wine-expert.org/ru/publications/8/, February 6, 2018

1 Eastern European Association of Sommeliers and Experts (2010), Internet

2 Why Why Wine, Internet

3 Zhuchenko A.A. (2008), p. 747

4 Alimov A.F. (2000), p. 101

5 Belousova E.A. (2014), p. 113

6 Zhuchenko A.A. (2008), p.748

7 Zhuchenko A.A. (2008), p.748

8 Thoughts about wine (2013), Internet

9 VINMOLDOVA.MD, Internet

10 Eastern European Association of Sommeliers and Experts (2010), Internet

11 VINMOLDOVA.MD, Internet

12 Thoughts about wine (2013), Internet

13 Neznaeva A.M. (2007), p. 5

14 Troshin L.P. (2009), p. 5

15 Talash A.I. (2009), p. 124

16 Talash A.I., Drobot K.O. (2007), p. 235

17 Talash A.I. (2014), p. 25

18 Serpukhovitina K.A. et al. (2010), p.3

19 Zhuchenko A.A. (2008), p. 755