Since approximately the mid-2000s, biodynamics has been fashionable in the wine world. Today, a very interesting phenomenon can be observed: whereas fifteen years ago, biodynamic growers were seen as eccentrics, today biodynamics has become a marketing tool for some. The ensuing risk, however, is talk which sometimes surpasses what is really practised in the vineyard. Numerous advertisements make reference to respect for the Earth, the moon, the cosmos … How can a wine lover really know what form of viticulture the grower actually practises?
The goal of certification is: ‘Say what you do, and have verified that what you do is what you said you would do’. Concretely, biodynamic producers associations establish standards (Demeter or Biodyvin). Growers who wish to obtain biodynamic certification become members of the association and agree to comply with the standards. Then, each year, the association commissions an independent inspection body (Ecocert, for example) to go and verify that the grower is indeed in compliance with the standards. Thereafter, the association annually issues a certificate of biodynamic viticulture that the grower can show to clients. The producer can also display the association’s name on their product label. It is essentially the same procedure one follows to obtain the organic standard label AB (Agriculture Biologique). However, the standards for organically-produced products are defined by central government and the European Union.
Biodynamics is, of course, an agricultural technique and therefore applies only to grape growing. It is for this reason that, along with organic wines, the following type of indication has been found on the label up to the 2011 vintage: ‘Wine produced from biodynamically grown grapes’. Yet, producer associations have recently started asking their members to more closely observe the minimum requirements regarding vinification. These rules aim to extend respect for the natural raw material to the winery, and eliminate the most ‘aggressive’ oenological practices (see question 16: in the winery: does biodynamics apply to vinification?). In addition, new European organic wine standards which cover the rules concerning vinification, have been adopted on February 8, 2012, by the European Commission and take effect at the beginning of the 2012 vintage in France. Until now, only grapes were certified as ‘organically grown’. The new standards allow growers to substitute this with ‘organic wine’ on their labels.
In reality, a significant number of growers who cite biodynamics as the form of viticulture they practise, are not certified for various reasons. Certain long-term practitioners are absolutely resistant to external inspection and to every additional administrative procedure. Some grow only part of their vines biodynamically. Still others simply take advantage of its commercial trend, and the pretext of wanting to maintain one’s freedom sometimes serves as a cover-up for viticultural practices unauthorised by the standards.
For the wine lover who cannot personally verify a grower’s practices, certification remains the only guarantee.