Product Description

Biodynamic growers rejoice! The successes of alternative agriculture have seldom been more apparent than in the high, broad acclaim for wines of the Coulée de Serrant vineyards. Joly has tapped the rich bounty nature possesses and profited by it.

Here, you will find agricultural methods that are proven and which offer a radically different approach to the destructive, chemical-dependent practices of modern viticulture. As Frank Prial of The New York Times noted, "[Nicolas Joly’s] disciples are legion: winemakers from all over Europe come to sit at his feet. Getting to know a great Loire chenin blanc by starting with Saveunieres is like getting to know music by starting with a late Beethoven quartet."

Learn the best biodynamic methods to grow delicious wines from a master grower. Robert Parker, in his Wine Buyer’s Guide, rates Joly as "an exceptional producer. [He] is the godfather of Saveuniere. Connoisseurs have long known the legendary longevity and quality of his Coulée de Serrant vineyard." Create your own legendary vintages drawing on his expertise.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48066 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 180 pages

About the Author
Nicolas Joly has been working with biodynamics for more than 20 years and is widely acclaimed as one of France’s foremost winemakers. Recognized as the world’s leading educator on biodynamic viticulture, Joly offers those who seek excellence both in their farming and appellation a radically different approach to so-called modern, toxic agriculture. In his biodynamic philosophy, Joly emphasizes on working with the living soil to bring about unique and true appellations.

Customer Reviews

Caring for the wine AND the soil
This is a great book for both, laymen and wine experts, on biodynamic winemaking. Nicolas Joly explains in a very simple way, why it is worth using all our senses at winemaking. Biodynamics respects nature's peculiarities in a positive sense and thus helps the vine to incorporate these specific characteristics into the wine. The origin of the so called "denominacion d'origine controlee". If all farmers, not only wine growers could respect their most cherrished input, the soil, as biodinamic wine growers do, what a wonderful world this would be! No more instransparent subsidies from States to the agribusinesses, no more hunger, and less diseases in the world.Bravo Nicolas! Welcome good wine, great wine.

beware pseudo-science
there is no doubt that the technologies that science has facilitated now pose a great risk to the well being of the planet. there is even less doubt that practitioners of science in its various fields often still have a conquistador-like, and very arrogant approach to the so called natural world. but these are not criticisms against the scientific method which is the very core of science, but against the practitioners of the method and the irresponsible uses of the products of the method. if the humans and other animals are to survive and do so healthily, then the practice of science must change. the method itself, which is simply that hypotheses about the natural world should be verifiable repeatedly through experimentation, should not change. it is a worthy method which by its very logic can not help but to stomp out superstition and pseudo-science. unfortunately superstitions and cultural hot-air are powerful forces, and the scientific method has not been anywhere near successful enough in its endeavors. there is a today a dangerous tendency towards luditism and mysticism as a form of resistance to the perceived threat of "science". this kind of resistance can only FAIL. it will fail because the less one knows about the processes which are currently shaping the world the less one has any real power to change those processes, and the more one will be at the mercy of those who master them.

i bought this book for my wife who is a trained viticulturist because i thought that the term biodynamic meant, a holistic agriculture based on organic principles, and the encouragement of a heterogeneous ecosystem with few inputs (fertiliser, hebicide, pesticides, etc) as opposed to a monoculture which is only barely survives on account of constant artificial input from the farmer. to be fair to joly, it does in fact mean these things, however, and note carefully, all of this can be found in what is usually called "organic" agriculture. joly's book, instead of being based on experimental science and reasoning, is based primarily on the work of rudolf steiner. in fact the book is dedicated to steiner, there is an appendix dedicated to him in the back of the book, and even an appendix dedicated solely to rudolf steiner schools! these odd appendices as well as some rather mediaeval comments made by joly led me to do a bit of research online, but before i get to that let me share a quote from the book:

from 'The Four Realms', page 28

"... The answers are primarily connected to an understanding of the four realms which surround us: mineral, vegetable, animal and human ... Above the three realms is man, who stands erect, in vertical, not to be confused with that of the monkey some people claim we are descended from. No, on the contrary, man's ability to stand erect gives him autonomy, permits him to say "I" with complete liberty, and to have a face that is always different. Only the physical aspects justifies a comparison between man and the monkey "molded" into its race. The hypothesis of the miraculous gene, which would have allowed this mutation, remains unsubstantiated. But this analysis reflects the sickness of our era, during which man, no longer understanding the origin of life, prefers to pay attention to it's manifestations. Wisdom would direct us to take the opposite road."

aside from being poorly written, the above passage shows an incredible backwardness in thinking and ignorance of modern genetics. we are told that we should take the "opposite road" than to look at the actual manifestations of physical life. i.e. in order for such an outlandish hypothesis as evolutionary theory to be true it would need to be manifest in a world other than the physical world, and even if such a thing were to be true in the physical world it would need to be explained by a miracle, a "miraculous gene". this kind of thinking pervades the anthroposophical literature which confuses spiritual banter for scientific thinking. (just to be clear on this, i'm no fanatic, i.e. if joly wants to show me in the physical world why evolution is wrong headed i'll be glad to listen, it is after all just a theory, but it is based on the investigation of nature and not on a religious cosmogeny).

furthermore the idea that man stands above the rest of the natural world, distinct from the animal and vegetable "realms" is precisely the cancer of times past which currently afflicts the sciences (agriculture included) today, and which leads to the frightful abuse of technology we now see around us.

because of lack of space i would strongly advise the reader of this review to do a bit of online research on rudolf steiner and the anthroposophist religion. suffice it to say that rudolf steiner believed in atlantis, reincarnation, that white people and christianity represent the spiritual apex of human development, and that science should allow for supernatural revelations as bona fide experimental results, etc etc... another very disquieting fact is that the standards bodies which certify "biodynamic" vineyards and even the steiner schools (the teachers are trained in anthroposphy by reading steiner's works, but the schools are presented to the public as secular) are closely tied to the anthroposophical movement which is, put frankly, a cult.

that the current approach to agriculture is for the most part an interventionist and arrogant one there is no doubt, joly recognizes this and offers some practical advice which brings natural cycles to bear. for instance he talks about the sun, moon and tides. unfortunately these kinds of observations, which seem like common sense to me (after all the moon is a large body with gravitational and electromagnetic effects which can simply not be ignored), for some strange reason would likely be rejected by many scientists. if you can bare to wade through the voodoo there are a few points to ponder in this little volume. there is also some (hearsay) evidence that using so called 'biodynamic' preparations has positive effects on the soil and life of the vineyard, these should also be properly investigated.

the biggest problem that faces humanity today is that there is a great deal of wisdom from times past which is being ignored by a blind and arrogant science. rudolf steiner and the anthroposophical method (if it can be called that) do NOT offer a solution, they can only further muddy the waters. what science needs to do very desperately is to look at ancient agricultural practices, and to do so using the scientific method in order to sort the wheat from the chaff. i doubt very much that rudolf steiner and his ilk are needed as a medium for this endeavor.

unless you are looking for a religious guide to growing grapes, or are just curious to see what 21st century pseudo-science looks like, i would advise looking into books on just plain organic viticulture instead, and going straight to the sources for knowledge of ancient agricultural practices.

Expanded Awareness
Wow! Through this book, Joly invited me to expand my awareness beyond planting a vine, spraying it with the "right" chemicals, harvesting the fruit and making the wine. He stirred my consciousness to recall and reconnect that which I have chosen to forget about this planet, this ever-changing life of whose whole-ness I am an integral part.

Based on Rudolf Steiner's concepts and research on agriculture, Joly's book introduced me to biodynamic agriculture. As described in Wine from Sky to Earth, biodynamics "is mainly the task of achieving a deeper understanding of the natural system within which a farm or vineyard is located and from which it receives its life forces."

Joly opines, "the key factor in making a good wine is to understand nature and help it - one becomes nature's assistant rather than `a wine maker'." I found my awareness shifting as Joly contends, "it is on the land, in the middle of his vines, that the wine-maker `makes' the wine."

I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing a stronger connectivity to his/her vines and wine.