Organic and Biodynamic Wines

This past Monday, my friend Sarah and I attended an organic and biodynamic wine tasting at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea. Having no idea what biodynamic wines were, we looked at it as an afternoon of catching up, boozing for free and maybe learning a couple of things or two. Owning a liquor store, she gets invited to these events all the time and as her favorite wino friend who doesn’t have a day job, I get invited. I tease her that after seventeen years of friendship, it is all starting to pay off. Of course that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Our first two assumptions about organic wines were that they do not cellar, meaning you can’t keep it in your basement for twenty years and open it and have an extremely better wine then you had twenty years prior, like a Brunello. FALSE. Second, that on the average they cost much more then other wines because of the labor intensity that is involved in their creation. FALSE. The majority of the wines we tasted were in the $12-$25 range. Very reasonable. We also learned that biodynamic farming means treating the farm and all of its living organisms as one entity. It works on a self-nourishing system so whatever you are taking out of the ground is then put back into it. Biodynamic farming also has to do with the moon patterns. Picking and cultivating is only done at certain times depending on the position of the moon.

Three of my favorites were Podere Concori’s 2006 Toscana. The vines are grown on land of pebbles, boulders and standstone, giving it a very interesting and smooth finish. It is why I like Italian wines so much. This vineyard also had a white Melograno which was a fresh palate cleansing wine. Full of acidity, it could easily be drank as an aperitif in the summer months. They work very hard to make these wines organic and biodynamic.

Second was an Austrian wine named Meinklang. Angela and Werner Michlits (who are my age) run this family wine estate. They age the wine in ceramic barrels in their basement and you can definitely taste the love and passion that they put into it. All of their wines were delish but in particular was this sparkling Pinot Noir. It had no label and was in a bottle like the one my mom makes her lethal limoncello in. Just when you thought the bubbles were coming, they would cut off. We stayed at this table for awhile. Meinklang is an organic and biodynamic winery.

Lastly, was a higher end wine from Rutherford, Napa Valley called Frogs Leap. Their 2006 Merlot was full of everything: currants, cherry, tobacco, herbs and plum. They use all of the fruits from around their vineyard. They have been practicing organic, sustainable and dry farming since 1988 which makes it well worth the big bucks.
What would be wine without cheese? France’s Comte (con-TAY) made a special appearance along with cheese from the nearby Hawthorne Valley Farm in Ghent, NY. Both cheeses were very tasty, firm, strong and organic. They were a nice change from the dozens of wines we were refusing to spit.

Before the wine tasting we grabbed a bite to eat at a small trattoria, le Zie where we indulged in a little charcutterie. Here is a photo of the cutting board. The small yellow and white squares were grilled polenta. The sopresetta and prosciutto were where it was at. Another wonderful day of fancy food and drink.