Dear reader, we have now reached the end of our journey together along the path of wine and biodynamics. I hope you will continue along the route yourself, equipped with the explanations gathered in this book. Yet, before parting, I would like to share with you a final thought.
You now understand the importance of the notion of energy, where lies the major difference between biodynamics and conventional agriculture. One takes it into account, the other ignores it completely. It is fascinating to observe that this split does not exist in Eastern culture where chi is still a reality accepted by all. Feng Shui talks about chi of the ground and chi of the sky. During a recent trip to Asia with my wife who is a Feng Shui practitioner, we had the opportunity to discuss this subject with an Asian tea expert. Her definition of Feng Shui for the cultivation of tea corresponded precisely with what we call terroir for wine! Is it therefore necessary to take into consideration a certain ‘energy of place’ in order to fully understand the idea of terroir? I recall a passionate discussion I had on this subject with writer and filmmaker, Georges Bardawil. We had been brought together by a mutual Japanese friend, Mr Kazuhiro Ota, during a dinner at the great Burgundian gastronomic restaurant Lameloise. For Georges Bardawil, ‘Biodynamics is an excellent growing technique to promote the circulation of the good energies of terroir, and certainly the best available today.’
However, this ‘energetic’, and I would even say spiritual, vision of nature which the Orientals have preserved, is not reserved for them alone. In the past, it was profoundly anchored in our Western culture and needs only to radiate in a new way. It was powerfully present with the Benedictine and Cistercian monks who designated the Burgundian terroirs. I became aware of this during a tasting with an Orthodox monk by the name of Brother Jean. For this former international reporter and photographer, ‘Nature is an open Book for those who cultivate the ground with their hands.’ His religion: everyone can have a concrete, spiritual experience through simple acts in connection with nature: gardening, peeling a carrot … (see Le jardin de la foi, published by Presses de la Renaissance).
Even in the West, this ‘energetic’ understanding of nature, which biodynamics seeks to formalise, is not reserved for monks or mystics. For those who are still sceptical, I will simply remind you of the words of Albert Einstein: ‘Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.’ It is up to each individual either to remain a prisoner of outdated ideas, or to free oneself from them. The only ideas one can be certain of are those that we have tested ourselves, advocated Descartes. Yet, this must be done without prejudice and in all intellectual honesty. As someone closer to us, the great American physicist Richard Feynman, observed, ‘The first principle is to not deceive oneself; yet, you are the easiest person to deceive.’
In a time when agriculture is dominated by widespread agrochemical and genetically modified methods, the small voice of biodynamics seeks to make itself heard. Through wine, it touches both our senses and our inner soul.