Organic & biodynamic
What the certifications actually promise. Demeter, Ecovin, Biodyvin. Plus why natural wine is a separate branch.
1 · Styles & method
What Is Biodynamic Wine? Beyond Organic
Biodynamic wine goes further than organic. Cow horn preparations, lunar calendars, and why the world's best domaines all practice it.
What Is Orange Wine? Everything You Need to Know
The colour is real. The name is misleading. Here's what's actually in the glass.
2 · Glossary
BD Preparations
Nine numbered biodynamic preparations (500–508) made from cow manure, silica, and six medicinal plants, applied in tiny doses to soil and vines on a fixed schedule.
→ConceptBiodynamics
An agricultural system developed by Rudolf Steiner in 1924 that treats the farm as a single living organism, prescribing specific preparations and a cosmic-rhythm calendar.
→ConceptDemeter Certification
The international biodynamic certification, founded in Germany in 1928. Stricter than organic and stricter than Demeter USA, with whole-farm rules and mandatory preparations.
→TechniqueLunar Calendar (Maria Thun)
A biodynamic planting and tasting calendar that classifies each day as root, leaf, flower, or fruit based on the moon's sidereal position against the zodiac.
→ConceptNatural wine
Wine from organically or biodynamically farmed grapes, fermented with indigenous yeasts, with no or minimal sulphur added and without fining or filtration.
→StyleOrange wine
White wine that turns amber to orange through extended skin maceration and develops tannin; the typical outcome of several weeks to months of skin contact.
→ConceptOrganic vs Biodynamic
Organic farming defines what you avoid (synthetic chemicals). Biodynamic farming adds a fixed set of preparations, a cosmic calendar, and whole-farm logic on top of organic.
→StylePét-nat
Sparkling wine bottled before primary fermentation finishes; the remaining sugar ferments inside the bottle and produces the bubbles via the méthode ancestrale.
→ConceptRudolf Steiner
Austrian philosopher (1861–1925) whose 1924 Koberwitz lectures founded biodynamic agriculture, the framework behind Demeter certification and biodynamic wine.
→TechniqueSans soufre
Wine made without any added sulphur dioxide during vinification or bottling; small amounts always remain as a natural by-product of fermentation.
→TechniqueSkin contact
Vinification technique where white grapes macerate together with their skins for days to months, adding tannin, colour and texture to white wine.
→ConceptVin vivant
Living wine: unfiltered, unpasteurised wine in which yeast and bacteria remain active after bottling, without additives that suppress microbial evolution.
→This is the reference. For reviews, opinion and podcast conversations about organic & biodynamic: see the blocks below.
About organic & biodynamic, not in the Library
Reviews, opinion and market news under Articles. 5 pieces.
Organic & biodynamic on Sparks (podcast)
Conversations featuring organic & biodynamic. 9 episodes.