Day two of the IPNC
So, it's day two of the IPNC here in sunny McMinnville, OR. I got caught out last night by the diurnal temperature differential which is of Mendoza proportions: 80 degrees by day, 50 by night. Consequently, I froze as the dinner progressed and I was wearing just shirt sleeves. So today I hit downtown looking for some warmer clothing options. The only shop selling clothes, as far as I could tell, was a surf/skate dude shop. I shall be attending tonight's salmon bake looking like a wannabe 19 year old skateboarder.
Spare a thought for Tyler Colman whose Mac died on him. News travels fast, though. Someone came up to him today and said words to the effect of, 'Tyler, can **** have your power supply now you won't be needing it.'
This morning we had our seminar on sustainability. We began with the Jasper (Morris) and Dominique (Lafon) show, which Jasper chaired fantastically. We tasted Dominique's wines as he told us about his journey to biodynamie. We were about two thirds of the way through when one of the audience asked whether Dom could explain more about how he uses Vitamin E in his winemaking. It was a wonderful moment.Then there was a panel with five Pinot Noir producers from around the world talking about their interest in sustainability. Ted Lemon, of Littorai outlined his four definitions of biodynamy.
- The farm should be seen as a self-contained individuality, with the goal that it should be entirely self-sustaining
- The material world is nothing more than condensed spirit, so we are farming the spirit rather than material.
- The idea of using preparations is that by putting them on the ground it enhances the spirit dimension of your farm.
- The enhanced wine and food grown using biodynamics gives us the force to confront the challenges of our lives.
Following the seminar there was a really nice lunch including some great wines, and also one of the most remarkable gastronomic experiences I've had. It was a suite of three bacon desserts. Yes, bacon. And they worked amazingly well. These were made by Cheryl Wakerhauser from Pix Patisserie in Portland.
[Note: message edited and a comment deleted to prevent someone getting into trouble]
Labels: biodynamics, Burgundy, oregon, sustainability
posted by Jamie @ 12:11 AM
6 comments
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6 Comments:
Why delete the comment?
Everyone knows Jancis has a problem with heavy bottles, and she frequently updates her website with the culprits.
The reason I deleted the comment is because it related to the reference I made to something one of the panelists said, so once that reference had been deleted (didn't want to embarass him), then I had to delet the comment - something I don't normally do unless it is for editorial reasons like these.
So, he made this remark to one/several journalists, and you take it down because you "didn't want to embarrass him".
Blimey, what hard-hitting journalism...
Jamie, as someone who's read and enjoyed your wine science book, I'm surprised that you've not got some sort of response to that definition of biodynamics.
That may be a definition of biodynamics, but it's also a definition of codswallop.
Even if biodynamic wines are better, I'd be surprised if anyone with any scientific training can put that down to the reasons biodynamics advocates think it is.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem generally at least agnostic towards biodynamics, which surprises me.
All the best, Neil
Hi Jamie,
I am a little late responding to this post, but wondering if you could help me with a certain contradiction I'm having with this whole biodynamic thing. I have a bit of a criticism, particularly with biodyanmic preparations that can be purchased from Demeter (I assume) or other biodynamic certifying organizations. I was reading the chapter in your book on biodynamics and came across a quote from Alvaro Espinoza who needed yarrow and red deer bladder for the preparations, but none being available in Chile he had to order from abroad. Doesn't this seem slightly anathema to the idea of a self contained organism?
Don't get me wrong, I'm totally into the idea, just feels a little weird to me that someone in Chile needs to buy deer bladder from somewhere in France to treated his closed eco-system farm. Isn't this introducing something from the outside which could potentially not gel properly with the self- contained site? And I'm not a member of PETA, but are the deer being killed just for their bladders? I assume not, but thought you might have some insight. I am probably just focusing too much on one tiny detail, but it's all in the details I think.
Your thoughts would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
Amy from LA, CA
Neil, you are right. I can't really answer your question succinctly enough for a blog post response, though.
Amy
Good point. I think bioD has some good stuff and some nuts stuff. I don't think there's any need for deer bladders in winegrowing.
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