Rob Bagot of Buon Vino in The Courtyard, Settle, is this week’s guest columnist. Buon Vino stocks several types of wine and spirits, but specialises in biodynamic wine – a more natural process of wine making that attempts to bring life to the soil with the use of natural composts and organic preparations

Biodynamic wine – whacky, unusual, faulty or actually what wine should be like?

This is a discussion I have in my shop all the time.

We specialise in wines that are made biodynamically or using organic fruit with non-interventionist production methods (although not exclusively, we also sell wines made from ‘conventional’ modern farming methods).

I believe that these wines taste natural, fresh, healthy and delicious.

However, some of my customers would describe some of the wines as whacky at best, undrinkable at worst.

Recently we have had some beautiful wines which are not only quite expensive but also highly sought after returned because customers thought they were faulty.

So I have been thinking, there is a problem here. I want to encourage customers to try wines made in a healthy, sustainable way but actually their palates are so used to wines that have been made using ‘conventional methods’ (I will use this term to describe production methods which today are the norm and which involve the use of artificial pesticides and fertilisers, cultured yeasts and various manipulation techniques in the cellar).

Wines made correctly seem to them to be strange, unnatural tasting and unpleasant. So who is right?

Certainly I do not think that customers are wrong, wine and taste is a personal thing. Who I am I to say that a person’s taste is wrong?

However I do think that the (relatively) recent phenomenon known to some as ‘natural wine’ confuses and challenges many consumers whose palates have been used for a long time to wines made using conventional production methods.

Nicolas Joly wrote in his book ‘What is Biodynamic Wine’ in 2007: “Today even expensive wines made under strictly regulated controls and standards are tainted by the use of pesticides and fertilisers, and manipulated in the cellar through the use of osmosis and the addition of aromatic yeasts and enzymes…” It is these practices established over the last 50 years that have in my view standardised the flavour of wine across the world and also shaped – some might say dulled – the palate of modern day wine drinkers.

It is also these practices which have corroded the validity of the original and important concept of the ‘appellation’, since regional identity is lost amidst the manipulation of the wine.

At Buon Vino, we try and bring these new (yet authentic and made in an old fashioned way) wines to our customers in a transparent way with as much explanation, information and understanding as we can.

It is a learning process for all, we are not wine makers, we sell what we love and we want to help others to love it as well.

We certainly do not wish to sell a wine to a customer who despite all our enthusiasm for it, is not going to enjoy it. We want happy customers and we have the range of wines to cater for all. We will offer our wines to taste as much as possible and we will back up the tastings with context and detail to help understand their unique flavours.

I hope in doing this, we can convert a few people to biodynamic wines and authentic flavours and we will certainly enjoy trying and drink our fill on the way.

Cin Cin!

* Buon Vino is holding free tasting sessions on Saturday and Sunday. It is also running a masterclass from 4pm to 5.30pm on Saturday. Places are limited and £22 per person. Book on shop@buonvino.co.uk or 01729 892905.

For more details go to www.buonvino.co.uk.