BD, Organic, Sustainable

Question 1

Costs

Answer 1

Steve Matthiasson said that organic is 10% more expensive than conventional, with weed control biggest difference. Especially rocky terraces with double rows compared to loamy flat land that can use tractors

Other considerations that drive up cost:

• Special fertility problems that require phosphorous
• Wet mildew-prone sites
• Invasive pests (mealybugs)
• Biodynamics adds another 5%, mostly from creating different preps along with scheduling challenges if you use the BD calendar

Pete Richmond:
Valley floor sustainable site (uses herbicide for weeds and synthetic fungicides for mildew) = $15,000 an acre to farm
Organic adds $850/acre ($500 for manual weed removal, $250 for mildew, $100 for fertility)
BD adds $150 an acre for preps

University of Adelaide study looked at the lower yields and higher farming costs of low-input farming.
They found the % financial return was 91% for low-input, 74% for organic, and 65% for biodynamic, compared to high input conventional farming. Did not take into account higher fruit value.

Johan in OR pays 1/10 of 1% of wine sales plus $500/year for Tilth certification
Grgich pays $20,000 on 60,000 cases. Pennies on the dollar.

Question 2

Fighting pests

Answer 2

Organic:

• Integrated Pest Management
  
  • Sexual Confusion
  • building habitats for beneficials and predator species
• Destroy bad vectors (Larkmead Creek rehab against blackberries and oleandar for sharpshooters)
• Promoting vine balance… lots of canopy = happy leaf hoppers!

BD:

• Pest Ashing
• Building natural defenses, such as tannin
• Biodiversity
• Sulfur dust
• Bordeaux mixture

Examples:
- Beckstoffer vineyards in Lake County have 600 acres.
Each June release 2,500 predatory mites per acre (mites love a hot, dry climate - Zin especially susceptible)

• John Williams fights phylloxera on his AXR1 vines by farming organically and dry farming to make for stronger deeper root systems
• Steve Matthiasson leaving out yellow sticky tape at Dalla Valle to try to catch over-wintering leaf hoppers

Question 3

Fighting Mildew

Answer 3

Currently EU allows 5lb/year of BDX mixture, with a buffer of no more than 27 lbs every 5 years

 - considering lowering that to 25lbs every 7 years
 - this could mean the end of organic farming in places like the Loire and Champagne

example: In Rhone, Perrin at Beaucastel use an orange peel spray and 10% whey that fights mildew
example: Pete Richmond and Harlan put out spore traps to count mildew. Have been able to knock out 2x sprays per year.
example: French National Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA) created a mildew-resistant grape called Artaban, the first wines from which are for sale 2018

Question 4

Sustainability Certifications

Answer 4

ISO 14001
ISO 14004
Australia - Entwine
NW USA - LIVE (Low Input Viticulture & Enology)
Agentina - Bodegas de Argentina Sustainability Protocol
Champagne - Haute Valeur Environmentale (HVE)
Champagne - Viticulture Durable en Champagne
Germany - Fair ‘n Green
New Zealand - Sustainable Winegrowing NZ (98% of country certified sustainable)
Chile - three tiered, color coded approach - viti (green), winemaking (red), social (orange), soon adding tourism
California - SIP (Sustainability in Practice)
California - Lodi Rules
California - Fish Farming Friendly
California - Sonoma Sustainable (includes water use and employee safety)

Question 5

Organic & Biodynamic Wine

Answer 5

In US, “organic wine” cannot use any sulfur, so is far more common to see “wine made from organic grapes” which allows up to 100ppm total.

Similarly, “Biodynamic wine” pretty strict.