Fri, 15 May 2009

Lunar cycles and the taste of wine

LONDON (NNA) – Maria Thun’s “Biodynamic Sowing and Planting Calendar” is probably one of the better kept secrets of the wine trade. Yet, as the Guardian newspaper recently revealed, for major supermarket chains such as Tesco and Marks & Spencer it has long been used as a tool to determine the best days to invite critics to wine tastings.

“The biodynamic calendar is a very familiar concept to people who work in the wine trade, and has been for decades,” Mary Rochester Gearing, Tesco BWS PR Manager, told NNA.  “Tesco have been referring to the calendar when choosing a date for their tastings for the press over the past years, something that Marks & Spencer also do and have done for a long time,” she added.

Maria Thun’s calendar is used by biodynamic farmers to determine the optimum days for sowing, pruning, and harvesting various plant crops, based on the rhythms of the moon, planets and constellations. Days are categorised as fruit, flower, leaf or root days, depending on these astronomical relationships. There is also a separate calendar specifically for wine drinkers.

“Although biodynamic practices are to do with the work in the field and the tending of the vines - winemakers in Burgundy in particular operate according to these methods – the theory also goes to the extent that wine will show more flavour on certain days,” Mary Rochester Gearing explains, “but from a very basic perspective it makes sense to try and show wines at their optimum which is why we try to hold our tasting on fruit or flower days.” 

Apart from using the biodynamic calendar for determining the days on which wine will taste better, the supermarket giant also sells biodynamic wines but “this is a choice made  by the producer rather than something buyers request. We don't actively label or communicate to our customers about biodynamic wines because it can be a confusing idea and is not an element which customers use to make their purchasing decision,” Mary Rochester Gearing told NNA.

The aim of biodynamic farming and gardening as defined by the UK’s Biodynamic Agricultural Association (BDAA) is to revitalise nature, grow nourishing food and advance the physical and spiritual health of humanity. Each biodynamic farm or garden is conceived of as an organism with its own individual qualities and diversity of life. Reliance on home produced compost, manures and animal feeds is a key objective and external inputs are kept to a minimum. With over 100,000ha worldwide currently under biodynamic management there is increasing recognition that biodynamics is one of the most sustainable and ethical forms of agriculture in existence, the BDAA says.

Marks & Spencer, too, believes that using the biodynamic calendar helps to present the wines to best advantage, even going so far as to advise customers to avoid disappointment from the best bottles by making sure not to open them on root days, the Guardian reports. “Before the tasting I was really unconvinced,” the paper quotes Jo Ahearne, winemaker for Marks & Spencer, as saying after having sampled more than 140 wines over two days, “but the difference between the days was so obvious I was completely blown away.” The store also has biodynamic wines on its list.

And even the Guardian itself found the calendar worked: “The Guardian tested the theory this week and tasted the same wines on Tuesday evening, a leaf day, then again on Thursday evening, a fruit day. Five out of seven bottles showed a marked improvement,” the paper writes.

Tesco is the UK’s largest grocer and also the world’s third largest grocery retailer with operations in 12 international markets.

Marks & Spencer is also a major British retailer with 840 stores in more than 30 countries.

END/nna/cva

Item: 090515-01EN Date: 15 May 2009

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