Just wanted to add a new address I found recently ...
In case you visit Rome, you can go to 'Enoteca Bulzoni', this enoteca has a vast collection of natural wines and occasionally they organise wine tastings. They do also have an internet shop ... just google them and you will find the website easily.
Ciao! I recently had the chance to taste 5 biologico (=organic) and biodinamico (biodynamic) wines. 2 from France, 1 from Portugal and other 2 from our country. Giving that this a forum on Italy I just mention the 2 Italians:
1) Fiano IGT "Don Chisciotte" 2007 from Campania biologico Winery Il Tufiello
These wines are very special in every sense. I mean that for sure from a Slow Food point of view about "good, clean, and fair food" these wineries did a great job.
But how was the taste of these wines? I need to say again to be politically correct very special ..
I mean the taste was really particular, especially Fiano, that as you know is a white wine. I appreciated a lot the effort in doing a white wine without any chemical inside, and giving that I strongly believe in Slow Food guidelines I liked the wine a lot (or maybe believing in Slow Food guidelines subconsciounsly forced me to appreciate the wine ) My husband, infact, who is less "poetic" than me, said "this Fiano is almost vinegar, come on Alessandra"! We discussed a lot if it was vinegar or not (to me not!)
In any case, this is just to say that these wines are very particular and given that they are so special I am sure that we need to taste them with a very different approach which is more connected to the "philosophical" aspect.
I copy here the definitions (from wikipedia)of biologico = organic and biodinamico = biodynamic (where the olistic aspect is very important):
Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on crop rotation, green manure, compost, biological pest control, and mechanical cultivation to maintain soil productivity and control pests, excluding or strictly limiting the use of synthetic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock feed additives, and genetically modified organisms.
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming with homeopathic composts that treats farms as unified and individual organisms,[1] emphasizing balancing the holistic development and interrelationship of the soil, plants, animals as a self-nourishing system without external inputs insofar as this is possible given the loss of nutrients due to the export of food.
I have tasted organic wines in France and tend to agree with Alessandra's husband. Unlike organic chicken, organic beef, etc. and organic vegetables, organic wines do not taste better, au contraire, much to my regret. I also support organic agriculture in general, but can't support anything that does not taste good. If the taste is not good, there is no raison d'être. I can't drink philosophy !
. Unlike organic chicken, organic beef, etc. and organic vegetables, organic wines do not taste better, au contraire, much to my regret.
AiP, it's sad to me to say as supporter of organic farming, but I also agree with your sentence above... The 5 organic/biodynamic wine tasting was at the end just an enriching experience. I was indeed very charmed by the wine maker who talked about the importance of the cicle of the moon and so on...but..would I really add these wines to my TOP 20? I don't think so...
First of all, thanks to Willemijn for the nice article.
Alessandra and AiP, I am sorry that your experience with organic wines was less than great. I am sure that there is a great variation in the quality of organic and biodynamic wines (just like in everything else).
I would not discount all organic and biodynamic wines, however, as some of them are great. The Paolo Bea wines, which are biodynamic, are in my top 5 favorite wines of all time (especially the 2003 Sagrantino di Montefalco).
as I wrote, my experience with "natural" wines was very good. I was very excited in tasting them and speaking to the wine makers. I would like just to say that maybe not every kind of wine is fine when it's produced in the "natural" way. I haven't had the chance to taste Sagrantino from Paolo Bea, but I tasted the new exsperimental biodynamic production from Di Filippo which is very good. I think that Sagrantino and in general very tannic wines are easier to produce in this "natural" way, as the tannins do part of the job. The problems is with the white ones, in my opinion. So just to explain my point of view, for sure we can't generalize on this production and as I said I respect and admire the wine makers who decided to do it.
Originally posted by Alessandra from Umbria: ....but I tasted the new exsperimental biodynamic production from Di Filippo which is very good. I think that Sagrantino and in general very tannic wines are easier to produce in this "natural" way, as the tannins do part of the job. The problems is with the white ones, in my opinion. So just to explain my point of view, for sure we can't generalize on this production and as I said I respect and admire the wine makers who decided to do it.
We agree completely! Vini di Filippo's Poggio Madrigale is our new favorite wine. At €12 a bottle it just can't be beat. It's a blend of Sagrantino and Merlot. We like Sagrantino but find the blends to be smoother. We have taken numerous friends to the Vini di Filippo winery (near Cannara)and all have been very pleased.
Wondering whether I should jump in here, but what the heck, I'm vaccinated :-/
Since I write about wine, I taste a lot of wine, and have had occasion to taste Vini biodinamici (and wines that would be biodinamici if the winemaker wanted to jump through the necessary hoops to get the certification), and as is the case with non-biodynamic wines some are good and some are horrible.
They are more difficult to make (not that any quality wine is easy to make) not so much because they use spontaneous yeasts present on the grapes (people have been doing that for thousands of years) as because the sulfites the biodynamic people omit or drasitcally reduce help stabilize the wines and also help prevent nasty contaminants from doing horrible things. Because of this, seriously off bottles of biodynamic wine are a distinct possibility unless the biodynamic winemaker is fanatical about cleanliness. Some are, and their wines are superb. Others are not, and I've had more than one producer say, "But It's biodynamic!" as I stood, eyes watering, wondering what to do with a sample that smelled like the percolate from stable straw.
Bottom line is, approach biodynamic wine as you would any other wine. If it's well and carefully made it will be good. Excellent, even -- Cascina Degli Ulivi makes superb Gavi and Dolcetto, while Podere le Boncie's Chianti is second to none. However, if the wine stinks, it stinks, and if it's unbalanced it's unbalanced, and neither quality is any less a problem because the wine happens to be biodynamic.
very special ..
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