It's interesting to observe that France has so many biodynamic operations. However, many of them are certified both by Demeter and Biodyvin so the 10,000+ number is dubious.
Still, I had not know there were so many Spanish biodynamic producers and I look forward to getting acquainted with more and more of them.
Italy has a low number (not shown here), due to its more stringent requirements. For example, using mechanical harvesting is forbidden under the Italian Demeter rules.
Acres in the US will increase dramatically when Heitz Cellars converts, which will add 550 acres to the US total. Heitz is on track to become the largest biodynamic vineyard owner in the U.S.
Want to be the first on your block to have the insider info on the new Slow Wine Guide?
Show your love of eco-friendlier wines by learning about 285 producers and 850+ wines in the brand new, inaugural, 170 page Slow Wine USA Guide 2021, available for pre-order now. This marks the first year that the guide is ALL US wines and is also available in print as well as ebook.
Slow Wine Guide is part of the Slow Food movement based in Italy, an international movement, spearheaded here in the US first by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, to promote good, clean and fair food and wines.
Hundreds of producers have been listed in the Italian language version of the Slow Wine Guide for 10 years. In Italy it is the best selling wine guide, with annual sales of more than 40,000 copies. California wines started being added roughly five years ago followed by Oregon wines two years ago. This year the guide's expanded to include Washington and New York State.
Each producer entry provides three sections including a paragraph about the people, one about about the vineyard, and then wine notes on three wines.
The special obstacles presented by the pandemic meant wine writers, called field contributors in Slow Wine world, had to zoom with winemakers and receive samples sent to their homes, which was not business as usual for Slow Wine. One of the brand's hallmarks is that each wine writer must visit the individual winery on a site visit and taste on site as well. So a little improvisation was needed.
Last year the guide was only distributed only as an ebook, and the print edition was sorely missed. Thanks to the heroic efforts of National Editor Deborah Parker Wong, the guide is now something you can soon hold in your hands.
I have worked as a Senior Editor on Slow Wine Guide for two years and have enjoyed the opportunity to be part of the publication and expand my tasting and writing horizons, becoming familiar with new producers and others that were both inside and outside of the certified organic or biodynamic realm I typically cover.
"Tasting room"
This year I wrote about 63 different wineries and reviewed 180+ wines in the comfort of my own home, an ideal setting for deeper thinking and reflection on each wine, as I could see them each evolve over time. It also challenged my Coravin skills and I had to order new needles at the height of my tasting marathons.
Others that are perennial favorites in this price range are the Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Gris and the Dashe Riesling from McFadden Vineyard.
Feeling like a bit of a splurge or seeking collectible bottles? Check out the guide's Top Wines. Some of the new to me wines here are the Hyde de Villaine Chardonnay from the Napa winery founded by the Hyde family and Aubert de Villaine (who married a Hyde). This is this producer's first year in the guide.
In addition to these two categories, the guide also includes a unique category - Slow Wine. This is for wines that preserve a heritage or tradition, whether it's old vines, a unique heritage clone, or a traditional grape - Mission, for example. Among my favorites here are Gallica's Grenache from old vines at Rossi Ranch in Sonoma and Sokol Blosser's Old Vineyard Block Pinot Noir, which comes from an old clone that is being preserved in new plantings.
While wine writers were not able to able to visit the wineries this year, as they usually do, connections were made on Zoom. Though Slow Wine typically does not ask producers to send samples, preferring to have field contributors visit each and every winery, the pandemic changed the rules of the game. Many of these Zoom winemaker visits are posted on the YouTube website.
HOW TO ORDER
You can order direct from Slow Wine to support the organization more directly. Volume discounts are available. Buy now! Give as gifts! Stock up!
While many wine writers and much media makes biodynamics sound like it is a complicated way to farm, King Estate's Ray Nuclo, in a farmer to farmer video on CaliforniaAgNet, says it's really pretty simple.
King Estate was certified organic in the early 2000's, but when Nuclo, an experienced organic viticulturist, joined the company in 2015, he was charged with converting its 465 acre organic vineyard in the southernmost part of the Willamette Valley, with going biodynamic.
In one year.
He told American Vineyard Magazine's reporter, Matthew Malcolm, that going biodynamic was straightforward - minimizing offsite inputs, using sheep for weed control before bud break, composting grape must to use as fertilizer, and using what are called the preps - adding herbal and mineral sprays and teas to compost and vines.
The preps were new to Nuclo, he said, but are now part of the routine, supercharging and promoting the natural life in the soils and plants, he said.
While others believe that biodynamic farming is a marketing tool, Nuclo credits the owners' commitment to treating the land well as the primary motivation for being biodynamic.
While the company makes 150,000 cases of wine each year, it blends its grapes with purchased grapes for 95 percent of its production, holding back five percent for its small lot, estate wines, which are certified under Demeter's "Made with Biodynamic Grapes" standard. (That standard is identical to the "Made with Organic Grapes" standard, substituting biodynamic grapes for organic ones.)
Asked for advice to others who may be contemplating a transition to biodynamic farming, Nuclo said, "It can be a little intimidating at first, but it's not as hard as you might think."
"You just have to have the right inputs and know what to do at the right time," he said.
