Baby Bios take bigger steps

Published: 23 July, 2008

Journalists love it, some punters even buy the wines. But how much potential does the biodynamics method of winemaking really have? David Furer quizzed the world's top exponents on the future for the super-organic approach.

Saahs is a committed practicioner of biodynamics, not only for her wines but in terms of the way she lives her life. In addition to making some of the most long-lived white wines in Austria, annually releasing a wine which has rested untouched in barrel for 15 years, she has a restaurant in the Wachau.

UK importer: Richard Walford, "although we began shipping our own wines over 20 years ago", says Sachs.

What is the perception of biodynamic wines in the UK?

It's growing and this makes me happy when I?think about the potential for biodynamics. More people are learning about wines that come almost straight from nature such as those made biodynamically. Natural wines show a truer expression of the vine.

How do vines respond to biodynamic treatment?

Biodynamic vines reach more to the sky - compare this to some conventional vineyards where the leaves are turning to the ground. Put plainly, they just look unhappy. Some growers use biodynamic principles as a fashion or merely as what they do in the vineyards, but biodynamics is much more than that.

Has climate change affected your vineyards?

At Nikolaihof we've seen dramatic changes with temperature but we the quality of our wines hasn't been affected at least. South-facing Steiner Hund is so hot we cannot work in it summer afternoons, yet the resultant wines haven't changed their level of acidity and potential alcohol thankfully. That's because self-protection devices in vines are in order thanks to the methods we use.

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