Biodynamic Pyramid | click here to enlarge
OUR TAKE ON BIODYNAMICS
There are no silver bullets in Biodynamic winegrowing. When you eliminate all the chemicals-all the artificial stuff, you learn to trust your instincts and to trust nature’s ability and capacity to make a great wine.
The development of our farming techniques has been an evolution of sorts. When we first rambled up the dusty road to our Sonoma Mountain estate, and began growing grapes, we farmed like everyone else did around here – we used machines and chemicals. Over time, we started to notice that our wines, while consistent, lacked that intangible thing, that sense of place, that we knew existed in the land here and should have been reflected in our wines.
While we eliminated the use of chemicals in 1990, it was somewhere in the mid-1990s that we met Alan York, an expert in Biodynamic practices and a world-renowned horticulturist. We wanted our wines to express the quality and individuality of the site on which they were grown. He helped us toward that goal, guiding us towards Biodynamic certification in 2000, through the Demeter Association, an independent third-party certifier for traditional Biodynamic farming practices. The certification is extremely difficult to achieve and must be renewed every year. It is the ultimate guarantee of purity in agricultural products. Today, we are one of a handful of Demeter certified-Biodynamic vineyards in North America.
Our property is located in a pretty distinct area – an extinct volcano caldera resembling a 360-degree bowl that sits in a valley 800 feet above sea level. Formed from volcanic explosions that occurred million of years ago, our land is ideal for winegrowing and boasts a variety of different sun exposures, elevations, soil profiles and drainage. Through Biodynamic farming, the best of what our land possesses is reflected in the characteristics of every bottle of Tribute.
THE PUREST EXPRESSION OF VINEYARD CHARACTER
To achieve the purest expression of vineyard character in the wine, we embrace a winegrowing philosophy that emphasizes naturally maintained, vital soils. Healthy soils allow roots to fan out and grow deep, providing a better balance between the root system below and plant growth above. This results in stronger vines and fruit with more intense, site-specific flavors.
You know about the food pyramid for a healthy, balanced diet, right? Well, we’ve created our own pyramid to illustrate the principles and practices of Biodynamics. When you look at the food pyramid, the core of a healthy diet – fruits, veggies and whole grains – forms the pyramid’s base. It’s the same with our Biodynamic pyramid: the core elements of a healthy, well-balanced vineyard estate are described in the bottom half of the pyramid. The top half of the pyramid is the icing on the cake – vineyard individuality.
"Backyard Bugs" article: Pressdemocrat.com, July 2009 | click here to read story
