Howard Park by the celestial book
As featured on Jancis Robinson.com, 9 Nov 2011 by Richard Hemming
I'm just back from a great tour of Australia, on which I will be reporting in much more detail. On this trip I visited Howard Park in Margaret River, ardent devotees of biodynamics. They shared with us their calendar of operations for vineyard activity. The image below shows the three harvest months; a pdf file of the full calendar can be downloaded here.
The harvest windows illustrated are apparently adhered to without exception - regardless of disease pressure or ripeness, grapes are not picked outside these recommended times. Howard Park's attitude is that biodynamics should be followed uncompromisingly to ensure its maximum effectiveness. For example, this means that harvest is never undertaken on a leaf day, as you can see below. The calendar itself is drawn up according to celestial movements, with the help of a consultant.
Howard Park converted to biodynamics in 2008 after visiting Burgundy the year before. However, tasting across vintages pre- and post-conversion showed no seismic shift in style or quality; as ever with biodynamics, tangibility remains elusive.
What is certainly tangible is the greater awareness of, and commitment to, environmental sustainability that biodynamic practice has inspired. Their sensitivity to the ecosystem of the vineyard is determined and admirable - but whether biodynamics will have any actual qualitative impact remains to be seen.
View Related info on Biodynamics & Marchand & Burch Wines
Article: Biodynamic Wine - is it all Scientifically Baseless?
Videos: Playlist of Marchand & Burch Videos with Winemaker Pascal Marchand & Vigneron Jeff Burch
Videos: Playlist of Videos with Chief Viticulturalist David Botting
Videos: 2 videos with Margaret River 'Leston' Vineyard Manager David P Burch (Snr) on Biodynamics
The Wines: Order Marchand & Burch Wines Online
More: Visit the Marchand & Burch Website
