What a Coooooool Guest!!! Moooochooo Thanx G & Nicolas for an
extremely entertaining & educational episode! Looking forward
to Part Deux!!!! 🙂

Gary, you have transcended the medium. That was high quality low yield production and I could almost taste the Chenin Blanc. Guests like Monsieur Joly make the wine world a family not a business of consumption. I find that some of the practices of biodynamics harken back to a more superstitious practice of moon worship and astrologic symbolism. If they result in a soil that is alive with organisms to a depth of at least 10 feet then that is desirable. There are a few soil consultants that are having some influence in attaining a healthy soil balance in Bordeaux but we usually only hear about the oenologist in the cellar who helps shape the proprietary blend. Blend is an arbitrary diversity. Single varietals can have diversity too by blending different sites and elevations creating complexity. The flinty aspect of sauvignon blanc from the Loire is well known but here it is showcased in a late harvest Chenin Blanc. He makes a good case for bio dynamics by the complexity that is in the glass. One is a philosophy of sustainability and the other a noticeable improvement in flavor. Vive Monsieur Joly.

Fantastic show. Nicolas is an amazing guest. There are many people that are passionate about wine but so few that truly understand it. After listening to him, the case for biodynamics and organic is clear. A painter would not start his/her masterpiece on a dirty or torn canvas? Why would a winemaker?

Hey Gary !

What a fantastic, fantastic, FANTASTIC guest !
I can t wait to see part II !

Nicolas Joly is an example for all wine makers ! He has so much passion and respect for his vineyard. It s trully amazing !

Thank you so much, Nicolas, for being on the show. Gary, I don’t know how you got him to come on, but thank you, too. I could watch the two of you talk about wine for 50 episodes. I think this series will be (already is) my favorite episode ever.

Please do not buy into to this neo-pagan, anti-rational, mystical bullshit, (or as we on wine.woot like to call it, “Voodoo Doo-doo”).

The article Voodoo on the Vine should be required reading for anybody even thinking about buying into this “deep green” marketing scam.

I could watch this all day long! Nicolas Joly is a god in our wine world, thank you so much for honoring him with such an informative show! Keep ’em coming.

I agree with almost everyone above, by far the most interesting guest and most interesting epsiode ever.

I would be willing to bet that Mr. Loweeel is one of the largest stockholders of McDonalds and probably thinks we should inject all our vines with steroids. MOREMOREMORE!!!

I’m just settling in after a cross country move and this episode reminded me why I love WLTV.

It my shorts LOWEELL, you suck!

That was a good f***ing show. Nature assistants is why I like wine in the first place. Its like Coturri wines, are they the best tasting wines in the world? Probably not but they are original,different and thats what is so interesting about them. Great guest.

Great Show! I can’t wait for part two. And I love the Business Card.

when gary met joly 🙂 they talked very wisely wine making is as well a matter of nature observation and nature consideration the matter here in the south of france is that we have more “very big skilled winemakers” than pure and noble winegrowers it’s scaring ! let’s turn back to the source with wisdom with discipline and quality controls without entering in any family or fashionable tribes…

Gary,
Like so many others, I’d say this is my favorite show so far! I’ve had several biodynamic wines from Alsace (especially pinot gris from Marc Kreydenweiss)that were among the most memorable wine experiences of my (69 year) life. When they’re made with passion, love and respect for nature, you can truly taste the difference. Can’t wait for chapter two. Thanks, Gary.

Top five show for me, nice work and probably the best guest ever. Can’t wait for part deux.

Great show and without a doubt the best card I have ever seen.

By far the best episode I’ve seen. I’m usually not keen on guests, but this guy is an absolute beast. I’m hoping this is a 3-parter, it’d be a great first.

Epic show….obviously an amazing guest. Can’t wait for the next part.

WOW! WOW! WOW! not much else needs to be said WOW!

Fantastic! I learn more here in 25 minutes than I do in 5+ hours of reading&/or discussion! Thanks, can hardly wait for Part Deux!

While others have been fun, informative and greatly appreciated, It’s going to be difficult topping this guest. Let him talk Gary.

Tofferotti — nice combination of ad hominem and strawman, but neither applies to me or my critique, which you fail to address.

Biodynamics relies on various scientifically disproven theories: homeopathy in the creation of its “preparations”, animal sacrifice for fertility, sympathetic animal sacrifice to “scare away” pests, harvesting and racking based on baseless astrological indicators, and “sensitive crystals”.

Please point to any scientifically valid study showing the viticultural benefit of any of those. (Please also note that the plural of “anecdote” is not “data”.)

I can add SO2 to my wine barrels using my the natural fumes that emanate from my rear end instead of a “artificial” preparation. Just like Biodynamics, you’d be swallowing a hell of a lot of unnecessary, unhealthy bullshit, while simultaneously failing to appreciate the underlying SCIENTIFICALLY VALID strand in the bullshit rope that does all the heavy lifting.

A very important conversation in an area which needs much enlightenment. Bravo, Monsieur Joly, and Gary. Tres Bien!

Mr. Loweeel exposes himself to be the type unable to learn, or accept new systems and info. His unyielding attitude reminds me of nothing more than the pig headed ignorance of the previous administration, which has had a greater hand in ruining the state of the entire world than anything else I can think of.
Weather or not skulls and crystals have anything to do with improvements in the final wine, you seem unwilling to understand that the final product of biodynamic producers’ extraordinary efforts meet and surpass those with merely organic practice, sustainable agri-methods, and even certified organic producers, all of whom demonstrate not only passion, but compassion for earth, environment, people, and the future. I’ve witnessed it in scores of wines from every major wine growing region of the world. That we enjoy well made wines from Weingut Hofer, Alvaro Palacios, and Bonny Doon, to more extraordinary efforts of Dom. Trevallon, Cayuse, and Kamen is testament that these winemakers CARE deeply about their art, above and beyond the commercial value of their product. They in fact, often bear a monetary burden which those of us who can appreciate quality admire, and support… if that’s ok with you.

I’m enjoying this so far. Not much wine in the first half but it is a wonderful lecture.

Some people seem to have a hard time with other people’s ways and methods.

Why not give the end result a fair try and decide then if it is worth all the extra kinds of effort(s) that organic and biodynamic farming practices require over “commercial” efforts. Actually I understand that organic and biodynamic farms can in fact sustain more of their own needs as far as soil nutrients and pest control, with the addition of a few animals, compared to a farm needing to purchase, transport, and apply chemicals. So it may be true that it could take less effort to farm biodynamic or at least organic.

Nature figured it all out a long time ago. Humans didn’t make wine until nature made some by accident, at least that is what I suspect. People have farmed and made wine far longer than chemical fertilizers have been around. If good wine couldn’t have been made all those years it would have lost favor and the practice would have ceased.

I can agree with and make sense out of believing in planting,sprouting, feeding, pruning and harvesting crops by the cycles of the sun and/or moon. And using natural composts to feed the soil. But I get lost when it comes to some of the more “interesting” practices you might find.

Looking forward to watching the 2nd part.