|
Biodynamic wine
from Bonterra,
California
2231
McNab Ranch Road, Ukiah, CA 95482, USA
Website: www.bonterra.com
Winemaker
Bob Blue (pictured) started working with Fetzer in 1988, a
company that has seen a huge transition, from family owned winery to
part of a larger corporate structure. He began working with Bonterra,
the dedicated organic arm of Brown Forman’s wine estates, in 1996.
Now Bonterra have released a biodynamic wine from the McNab ranch,
which is located in the North Coast of Mendocino County. It began life
as a sheep ranch in the 1800s, and now has 51 hectares of vineyards.
It is certified by Demeter. I met up with him to taste his wines and
poll him on his attitude to grape growing.
‘My
interest is in alternative ways of farming’, says Blue. But he adds
that, ‘I’m not as literal as some of the biodynamic people; I
don’t think ideas come from just one place.’
What
would he suggest is the way forward for viticulture? ‘My advice is
to get out into your vineyard and count insects. You need to plant
cover crops. Can you add more diversity? It doesn’t have to be fence
post to fence post viticulture, so add some breaks. Strive for balance
and don’t over-crop. Do good viticulture that matches the power and
the ability of the soil.’
Blue
believes diversity is very important. ‘Look at a forest and see how
wild it is. Life is interwoven. Unless an exotic species is brought
in, things don’t change much.’ He explains that, ‘Farming is an
unnatural act. What you don’t see in a clean farm is how much energy
it takes to keep it that way, and how fragile it is. Diversity works
to make the system more stable.’
His
advice to growers is that he’d ‘encourage you to use your
intuition. If you are always thinking about inputs, it is quick fixes
all the time and it doesn’t address the whole picture.’ Blue makes
the analogy with doctors who are always addressing health problems,
versus those who are looking at prevention. ‘Holistic farming aims
to look at the whole idea’
Blue
admits that he doesn’t fully understand the use of biodynamic
preparations, but he acknowledges that there are chemicals such as
plant hormones that have effects at very low concentrations. ‘During
the era of conventional viticulture in the early 1990s, people rarely
got out of their pick-ups’, he explains. ‘The emotional connection
with the vineyard is important: Steiner was pointing out that this is
what we are losing – ancestral agricultural wisdom.’
The
2002 McNab ranch table wine is an impressive effort, a blend of 70%
Merlot and equal parts Petite Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Bonterra
McNab Ranch Red Table Wine 2002
Dark,
vivid spicy nose is fresh, spicy and full. The palate is plump and
full with generous ripe fruit. Quite soft textured, showing elegant,
pure sweet fruit and a nice spicy finish. Nice presence here. Very
good/excellent 92/100
Wines tasted 05/06
Find
these wines with wine-searcher.com
Back to top
|
