Biodynamic Wine, Peter Koff, and Friday the 13th

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This Friday, The Party Source is hosting an unadvertised EQ session called Biodynamic: Expression of Terroir or Mumbo-Jumbo? The session is led by Master of Wine, Peter Koff. It will be held in the fine wine room (warehouse) as opposed to the EQ Center. The cost? $20. It’s worth a trip to Newport, if you live north. The session is this Friday, 4/13, from 6-8 pm.

To sign up for the session, call 859.291.4007 or contact Connie Volker in the EQ office at cvolker@thepartysource.com. As with any EQ tasting, you get 5% almost everything in the store by showing your name tag after the session. An additional 5% is taken off for any wine on the EQ list or that was used in the tasting. (Kevin & I will be there, and we’ll be bringing another local foodie and blogger, Drew Vogel. We all love to meet more food & wine aficionados in the area, so say hello!)

Now that I’ve promoted the event, as I’m really excited about it, I wanted to give a little preparatory information on biodynamics. I suppose I’m as excited about this event as I am because I find biodynamics fascinating.

Biodynamic agriculture is based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, in particular a series of lectures he gave in 1924. A lot of people chock biodynamics up to mumbo-jumbo. In addition to standard organic farming techniques (no pesticides and so forth), biodynamics incorporates field preparations and follows an astrological calendar. The point of biodynamics is to get the vines more in tune with their surroundings.

On a biodynamic farm, the entire farm is considered an organism. Animals are encouraged, as use of their manure, and in some cases, their munching skills, is all part of the natural circle. Using the natural cycles of the earth, sun, and moon simply encourages the plants to reach deeper into their surroundings.

I haven’t tried biodynamic wines yet, but it is said that the greater connection with the earth brings out terroir in the wines. That elusive "somewhereness." I’ve only ever tasted what I believe was terroir in a French wine. It’s a moment that stays with me – an aha! moment if there ever was one – where I finally understood the concept of terroir. I’ve never tasted it in a California wine. Perhaps I’ll investigate biodynamics further, as aren’t we all sort of chasing that somewhereness on some level?

We hope to see you on what is turning out to be a very lucky Friday the 13th.