Rooty-Fruity
Monday was a root day and it showed. By Kate
Yesterday was a root day on the biodynamic tasting calendar. It was also the Italy
For those not entirely clear on what the biodynamic tasting calendar is, let me try to enlighten you. Biodynamic farming of course happens in accordance with phases of the moon, so activities like feeding, pruning, sowing and harvesting are planned in accordance with what the moon is doing. As the moon slowly winds it’s way around the earth - a cycle which lasts 27.3 days, it has a major influence on tides, the fluids in both plants and the soil and reflected sunlight, so much of the philosophy makes perfect sense. During an ascending moon, when sap is being drawn upwards, for example, grafting and harvesting should be done.
It should be noted that these lunar calendars have been in use since the very first human beings settled and started farming in the Nile delta, thousands and thousands of years ago. A salient fact to point out when people start to snort derisively at the above.
This happens quite a lot.
On its monthly journey around our beleaguered planet, the moon also passes through 12 sectors which are based on stellar constellations. Each of these is associated with one of 4 elements – Air, Water, Fire and Earth and in turn each of these elements enhances a very particular aspect of the plant – roots, flowers, leaves or fruit. Based on the above theory then, the entire calendar is divided into root, flower, leaf or fruit days and as different plants are grown for different components (some for their roots, some for leaves etc etc), particular attention would be paid to cultivation on days corresponding to the bit of said plant you are particularly interested in.
Also, activities which are specifically targeted to one of the bits of the plant are planned for the relevant days. Anyone who snorted derisively at the idea of lunar calendar at first is at this point generally puce and huffing and puffing with such gusto that it is often advisable to stop the explanation lest they do themselves an injury.
I am not a scientist but what I can (and do) point out, as W Shakespeare so helpfully did, is that ‘there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy’.
If everything we now know about how breathtakingly intricate and complex the natural world is (and how we crash all over and destroy it’s rhythms and relationships at our peril) does not even start to lead us to conclude that there are indeed more things in heaven and earth, well, then I despair even more than I usually do.
Which brings us to the tasting calendar. It is also a widely held belief in the Biodynamic world that the quality of the day –i.e. root, leaf etc, will have an effect on the taste of the wine and that the most perfect days to drink wines tend to be fruit and flower while leaf, and most especially root are generally not good to a greater or lesser extent.
Those who have broken their backs in their vineyards to grow naturally, by hand and in accordance with the moon’s journey across our skies AND who have then kept all the vibrancy in their wines alive by not interfering too much in the winery believe that for as long as the wine remains biochemically alive, it will maintain that link to the natural world and will absolutely be influenced by all manner of forces.
What we know beyond any shadow of a doubt is that the more ‘naturally’ produced the wine is, the more the flavours mutate from week to week. We taste them one week and the fruit is too the fore. The next, there is a much more marked herbal quality and then it becomes distinctly aromatic. And so it goes.
What we have not always found is that is corresponds exactly to the calendar and indeed, we have had some magnificent bottles on root days and some that were simply not quite there on fruit or flower days. Last night however was text book.
The wines were full of meaty, savoury, rooty-ness and there was only one which managed to show much of its fruit – although not as much as it usually does. The group were divided.
“She is talking about the moon again” said one of the sceptics wearily as the discussion on this gained pace.
Others though, initially sceptical for the first few weeks of the course, were starting to consider coming over to the light. A particularly intrepid group started to consider in such detail that they have now committed to drinking one of the most natural bottles we had last night (the sensational Panevino wine from Sardinia discussed in a blog a few weeks ago) in a few weeks time, on a full blown fruit day to see if they find it markedly different.
I will keep you posted.
This happens quite a lot.
The wines were full of meaty, savoury, rooty-ness and there was only one which managed to show much of its fruit – although not as much as it usually does.
