Viticulture
Biodynamic viticulture
Organic farming plus a set of practices derived from Rudolf Steiner — and an honest look at the evidence.
Overview
Biodynamics includes everything organic certification requires, plus specific preparations (including the well-known horn-manure preparation) and a planting and harvesting calendar based on lunar and planetary cycles.
A striking number of highly regarded producers farm biodynamically and make outstanding wine. That fact is not in dispute.
What is in dispute is the mechanism. Controlled trials have generally found that biodynamic vineyards outperform conventional ones but do not clearly outperform organic ones — suggesting the benefit comes from the organic and attentive-farming components rather than the specifically Steiner-derived preparations.
WineHQ reports both things: the wines are frequently excellent, and the evidence for the distinctive practices is weak. Those are compatible statements.
The honest summary is that biodynamics correlates with careful farming and good wine, without established evidence that the preparations and lunar calendar are the cause.
Sources
Sources consulted
More in the vineyard
Viticulture
Climate and wine style
The largest single influence on what a wine tastes like — larger than grape, producer or winemaking, and the reason the same variety is unrecognisable in two places.
Viticulture
Climate change and wine
Warming is already reshaping where wine is grown and what it tastes like.
Viticulture
Harvest and picking decisions
When to pick — the single most consequential decision a producer makes each year.