Think of it as organic farming taken one step further. In addition to banning the use of pesticides and artificial additives, biodynamics works to create a self-contained, sustainable farming system in which everything on the property, including water and organic materials, is recycled and reused to regenerate the land. Chemicals are verboten because they deplete the soil, which is considered a living organism. And these practices aren’t limited to wine. These days, everything from milk and cheese to produce, spices, cosmetics, and olive oil is produced using biodynamics.
Intuitively we sense these wines must be better — if not better for us, better for the land — but are they? And why? “Each year that you practice biodynamic farming, you increase the biodiversity of the land and the health of the plants. You can grow better vegetables, olives, and grapes — if your definition of better is based on authenticity,” Benziger says. The goal, he says, of a biodynamic winemaker is not to make a perfect wine, but to express the authenticity of the vineyard, or what the French call terroir. He adds, “Sometimes that means a bit of a chipped tooth, but if done the right way, those are things that hold people’s interest, like the Mona Lisa. Her imperfections, her individuality, hold your attention.”
