Eric Asimov has a good article in today's New York Times regarding organic, sustainable, and biodynamic practices in wine making and selling. It provides a good beginner's overview on these categories and what they roughly mean. Many of you in the Bay Area that pay attention to such things may have noticed a trend toward sustainable/organic/biodynamic being noted on wine lists. Retailers around here are also starting to distinguish wines in this way.
While this does my heart good, I would draw your attention to a quote from the article, attributed to Mike Benziger, "The product has to be good." Amen. There is wine out there being grown organically or sustainably that does not live up to that expectation, so buyer beware.
Overall, my personal experience with biodynamics has been that it's good for the wine, as well as the earth and our bodies. While I don't want to make a blanket statement that bioD=good wine, I haven't yet found a wine labeled such that isn't solid wine.
I will write in length some other time about biodynamics, but suffice it to say that of the winemakers that I know to practice it, each one is mystified by the quality increase that has come about from burying horns in the ground, etc.
Anyhow, food for thought.
Link
NYT Article on Green Wine (may require subscription)
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