la gramiere: Back to back Biodynamic seminars- Part 2

As I said, the second seminar I attended was just one week later at La Ferme Saint Martin , a winery in Suzette, which is in the heart of the Beaumes de Venise appellation. Guy Jullien, who has now been joined by his son Thomas, has been farming his vineyards organically for several years now, he is a very talented winemaker, and uses very low doses of sulfur, if any. The wines are very good, pure expressions of their terroir, but every so often, you get a bottle, that in my opinion, might have been better if they had used a bit more SO2. Like many farmers that choose to farm organically, after a few years, they wanted more, wanted to go that one step further in agriculture, and that lead them to bio-dynamics and to Jacques Melle. Based in Champagne, Mr. Melle is one of the top bio-dynamic consultants, he consults with many of the top wineries in the southern Rhône, as well as all over France. I will admit that I don't know that much more about his background. This session was more of an exchange of ideas, not really a presentation on bio-dynamics.

There were a few outsiders present like myself, my friends Even and Marie-Caroline Bakke, and some others that wanted to learn more about bio-dynamics, but most of the participants were winemakers/grape farmers that have been working with Mr. Melle for at least the past year. Many familiar faces filled the room, from the top wineries in the southern Rhône, Marcel Richaud, Frederic and François Alary from Oratoire Saint Martin, Jerome Bressy, Jean Marot from Vindemio, and certainly there were other well-known people there, but I didn't recognize them all! Everyone talked about their experiences employing the various techniques and preparations that are the basis of bio-dynamics, what they found really worked, what they had trouble with and how they came out in 2008. If you don't already know, 2008 was one of the most difficult years in recent history in the south of France. Some say they haven't seen the constant, heavy rain we had in May and early June for at least 40 years. Organic and conventional farmers alike saw substantial crop loss due to mildew, so it was quite interesting to hear their experiences. Overall, no one claimed that, thanks to bio-dynamics, they made out any better than their neighbors, they mostly focused on how it improved the quality of the soils and the health of certain vineyards that in the past had been problematic. This is the first time I have attended an exchange of ideas and experiences between farmers, and it was a very enlightening experience, and something I think should happen more often around here.

Of course, keeping with French customs, there was a meal planned at the end. We all crowded into another, smaller room to start tasting each other's wines while tables were set up and the caterer began to serve. Corks were pulled, jokes were told and we all got the chance to get to know one another a little bit better. As we moved through the evening, the bottles kept arriving, everyone having brought at least one, if not two or three of their wines. From the small producer of Vin de Pays, to a bio-dynamic olive and olive oil producer, even a couple of delicious Châteauneuf-du-Papes, we tasted and discussed each wine that was put in front of us. All of this in the name of bio-dynamic agriculture. If nothing else, it brought us all together to exchange ideas and taste each others wine, it doesn't seem to happen very often, but it is signaling a change in the attitudes of some vignerons in the region, and that is definitely a good thing!