This was the first book written about how wine is produced from biodynamic grapes and the wines themselves. When Biodynamic Wines was published the book generated much interest from wine drinkers keen to learn more about biodynamic wines and winemakers. The winemakers are covered in the second half of the book. And many professional winemakers (especially English-speaking ones) told me how they used the first part of the book which explains what biodynamics is to get a grip how this hitherto otherwise mysterious practice actually worked.
As I said in the book: "While organic farmers concern themselves predominantly with the soil - in other words what's going on beneath their feet - biodynamists also concern themselves with what's going on above their heads - in other words the sun, moon, planets and stars and their influence on how plants grow."
In Biodynamic Wines over 200 biodynamic wine producers from around the world are profiled - and rated: firstly for wine quality allied to how well they respect the environment, and secondly on value for money. Biodynamics is the oldest non-chemical agricultural movement, pre-dating the organic movement by over twenty years; yet the differences between conventional, organic and biodynamic winegrowing remain poorly understood.
The book describes the nine biodynamic preparations, whose use is mandatory for all biodynamic growers: how they are prepared, how they are used and what they actually do. Three are sprayed on the vineyards (including the two most well-known ones horn manure or '500' and horn silica or '501'). The other six go into compost for soil fertility. The forces exerted both by the biodynamic preparations and cosmic cycles (moon, planets, the sun and other stars) are seen by biodynamic growers as key in influencing the way living things - like vines and wines - grow and mature are also dealt with.
Tim Atkin MW, The Observer (5th December 2004)
Rated among Atkin's best wine books of 2004. "I greatly enjoyed Biodynamic Wines by Monty Waldin (£25, Mitchell Beazley), a scholarly, lucid, well-researched guide to this most baffling of subjects."
Awards
Best Wine Book, World Food Media Awards
Best Wine Book for Professionals in English, Gourmand World Cookbook Awards