Welcome to the Weekly Wine Quiz! This week, things are going to get decidedly odd, but then you’ve come to expect that here, haven’t you?
Standard disclaimer: based on feedback from ever-so-vocal-and-intelligent peeps like you, I supply the quiz question each week, but I do *not* supply the quiz answer immediately. It’s YOU who supply your *best guess* as to that answer in the comments, and then tune back in later today in the comments section for the official answer.
Going Stag? True or False: Biodynamic vineyard farming preparations include flower heads of yarrow fermented in the bladder of a stag.
- A. True
- B. False
Cheers – and good luck!
True
that's why my garden looks like hell this year–they were all out of Stag Bladders at Whole Foods….
Masi – did you try Wegmans? Maybe near the truffles? ;-)
True? …Weird either way!
Dusty – Yeah, the BioD thing is definitely… not intuitive! I did a whole host of coverage on it a little over a year ago, worth checking out if you want to go down the rabbit hole. :) Cheers!
The Spirit World tells me that the answer is True.
Richard – Ah, the old quasi-religious BoD debate! Or do you mean something like a bottle of vodka spoke to you and told you that? :)
Is Steiner could speak to the Spirit World and come up with BioD, then I can surely do the same to answer a trivia question. Though maybe it was the vodka speaking to both me and Steiner. :)
Richard – ha! :)
What if Mr Yarrow wanted to use the flower heads, though?
Anyway, this does sound quite odd and vaguely mystical in its specificity to me, as some other biodynamic practices do, so I'm tilting towards True, despite it sounding a little too over-the-top.
While different plants can contain all sorts of different chemical compounds, and the enzymes and chemical compounds in different organs of different animals can also vary wildly, how do biodynamic growers decide that particular combinations work and others don't? Would substituting the bladder of a doe work in a pinch? What about a bull? If you don't have any yarrow at the moment, will nettles work?
Can you recommend any books on biodynamicism? I would like a greater understanding of how it works.
MyrddinGwin – I've yet to find anything that can come close to reasonably explaining those aspects of BioD. You can start with some of the coverage here, might help at least point you in more detailed directions: https://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2011/02/01/the… Cheers!
There's no fooling anyone this week! Here's The Official Wine Quiz Answer:
A. True
Believe it or not, Biodynamic farm preparations do, indeed, include flower heads of yarrow fermented in a stag's bladder (it's known as Preparation #502). It's meant to be applied to vineyard compost along with other preparations that include ingredients such as chamomile, nettle tea, oak barks and dandelion heads (the latter fermented in cow intestine).
Cheers!