Thursday, September 3, 2009

Walk #245: Bella Oaks Lane--Biodynamic vs. Organic






Bella Oaks Lane is a sleepy little, black top road just a couple miles south of St. Helena in the Napa Valley. Named for "beautiful" oaks, I pull over and start to walk this small road. It is after five pm, so there is no hope of pulling into a small winery for a snort: they are all closed.

Still a tad warm here in the Napa Valley. A lovely afternoon. A hawk flies past. I walk along and discover the vineyard for Pine Ridge Cabernet. I like it when vineyards state what the grapes are, and who they belong to.

Two tractors are parked. They have their yellow grape collection baskets stacked in trailers behind each of the toy tractors. It is the time of the "crush" in the Napa Valley. The white grapes (sauvignon blanc and chardonnay) are being picked. The luxurious red grapes need a bit more time to mature. The grape harvest--called the "crush"-- lasts almost three months in the Napa Valley.

Yet the scent of fermenting grapes is in the air. It will continue to get more rich in aroma as the fall progresses. All that wine rotting puts a sweet, pungent fragrance that hangs in the valley. Think of your old running shoes in the closet--mixed with molasses: That is what the Valley smells like in the fall.

I continue down the lane.

On one side there is an organic vineyard. The flag outside its entrance is at half mast (in honor of Teddy Kennedy? Does this winery ship their products to the Kennedy Compound in Cape Cod?). Organic vineyards aren't strange, as there has been an explosion of "certified organic" vineyards in the Napa Valley.

On the other side of the Lane sits a "biodynamic" vineyard. Sycamore Vineyard grows grapes for Freemark Abbey.

Biodynamic vineyards take organic principles a step further. If Shirley MacLaine had a vineyard, it would be "biodynamic". Biodynamic vineyards pay attention to everything from husbanding beneficial insects to burying horns full of steer manure on the equinox. Some call it a mystical way of farming; a gimmick. Definitely Pagan.

Being America and all, it has been branded as being "certifiable", so now you have a rule book to be a "biodynamic vineyard". And yes, one of the rules is that you have to bury Steer poop, in horns, on the spring equinox.

I love it! How Pagan! How California!!
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As always, photos will be added when I return to the Farm.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The steers don't belong to any vineyard. They are pets, and used mostly for fire prevention.

Ian Woofenden said...

Biked to town for appointment and errands. On the ride back across the island, I did a conference call for a committee I'm on -- multi-tasking

13.23 miles
1:20
9.92 mph average
29.22 mph max

Allan Stellar said...

Ian,

Any laws against riding a bike and using a cell phone in your neck of the woods?

Anonymous,

Steers for pets? I enjoyed walking in your neighborhood....

allan

Ian Woofenden said...

Allan,

No clue. I think silly laws should be ignored. ;-)

greentangle said...

My, you've been doing lots of funny writing since I've been here.

Thought of leaving a size doesn't matter comment on the other blog's corn post. Nah, too obvious. Thought about how everyone is considered a weird outsider in Duluth unless they're Scandinavian and you went to high school with them. Nah, you probably know that.

I laughed at the Pagan comment here--there's an Amazon review of that new book about deer complaining that the word Gaia is in the book. Reviewer had to look it up on the interwebs and then declared that there shouldn't be Pagan stuff in a book about deer.

Allan Stellar said...

Green...

:)

This was a weird week. Got kicked out of two places on my walks. Thanks for reading the wordy entries...glad you got a chuckle. I certainly enjoyed this week's adventures.

As for your sojourn in the Scandinavian midest, I certainly can understand your culture shock. I am Norwegian. I even lived in Duluth for a couple of years.

allan