Remy Charest's interesting post about Bordeaux, carbon and biodynamics is aptly titled, "It's not easy being green." In an time of growing eco-awareness, we are often besieged with messages relating to easy steps to save the planet. The reality is much more difficult than the press would have you believe.

As Thomas Friedman explains in Hot, Flat, and Crowded, we need to redefine green. A true understanding requires and integrated approach beyond easy lifestyle changes. While an advocate for true sustainability in energy, food, farming and beyond, this post will focus on wine.

Whether you believe that biodynamics is hocus pocus or the holy grail, its underlying principle is vitally important to all sustainable agriculture. Many farmers have been paying attention to moon phases for centuries. Past generations considered it normal to harvest during a full moon and plant during a new moon. But, as Carlo Petrini argues in Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, And Fair, we no longer respect traditional knowledge based on experience and a connection to the land. Dismissing biodynamics simply because it is difficult to understand or hard to prove is a byproduct of our shortsighted, industrial approach to winemaking.
Bio is a root meaning life and dynamic as a noun is an interactive system or process. At its core, biodynamic farming is an approach that respects life, but also requires the farmer to be actively involved and aware. Essentially, As an agricultural approach, it is ill-suited to industrial practices or marketing schemes. It demands a hands-on approach and an enduring connection to the land that is the very basis of traditional farming practice. As Remy points out, it is this level of devotion that results in great tasting wine. Alder Yarrow agrees, arguing that some of his favorite wines are biodynamic. Alder continues, scolding some of the more esoteric practices of biodynamists, but he is missing the point here. While some farmers may not be able to articulate the scientific reasons behind their approach, their dedication to working in harmony with nature, to raising healthy plants in healthy soils should be lauded. Not only is the wine usually better (especially when this dedication extends to the cellar), it is an approach that is in every way superior to the "science" taught at many modern wine schools.