Bio-Dynamic Wine – Drinking By Moonlight

Drinking by moonlight may be romantic but apparently it really does make the wine taste better. The Guardian has reported that the idea that the taste of wine changes with the lunar calendar is gaining credibility among the UK's major retailers, who believe the day, and even hour, on which wine is drunk alters its taste. Tesco and its rival Marks & Spencer, which sell about 1/3rd of all wine drunk in Britain, now invite critics to taste their ranges only at times when the bio-dynamic calendar suggests they will show at their best. Marks & Spencer has gone a step further and is advising customers to avoid disappointment from the best bottles by making sure not to open them on "root" days.

The calendar has been published for the last 47 years by Maria Thun, who lives in rural Germany. She categorises days as "fruit", "flower", "leaf" or "root", according to the moon and stars. Fruit and flower are normally best for tasting, and leaf and root worst. Thun carried out experiments in the 1950's to attempt to establish a connection between the growth of plants and the moon and planets above us. She sowed a plot of radishes every day for an entire growing season and observed the performance of each individual sowing. She discovered four discernible differences in the plots. Some plots produced larger roots than others. Other plots produced larger leaves. A third group produced flowers more readily than the others and the fourth group went more quickly to seed.

The plots that produces the biggest roots and therefore the greatest yields of radishes were those sown when the ascending moon was in the constellation of Virgo, Capricorn, or Taurus. Later experiments confirmed that root crops, sown at these times, would produce higher yields than those sown at other times. So bio-dynamic gardeners plant their carrots or onions when the moon is passing through one of these constellations. These times are referred to as “root days”.

The sowing dates that produced the most leafy radish plants were noted and again further experiments showed that plants which are grown for their leaves, such as lettuce, spinach, or parsley, are best planted on “leaf days”. That is when the ascending moon is in Scorpio, Cancer, or Pieces.

The auspicious time for flowering plants is on “flower days” when the ascending moon is in, Libra, Gemini or Aquarius. And for plants that are grown for their seed or fruit such as beans, tomatoes or courgettes, the best yields will be had by planting on “fruit days” when the ascending moon is in Leo, Sagittarius or Aries.

Tesco has been scheduling its wine tastings in line with the calendar for two years, but is only now admitting it. Some other retailers, including Waitrose, are less certain.

"Our first choice is a fruit day," said Pierpaolo Petrassi, Tesco's senior product development manager. "We seek to avoid root and leaf days. It may be a little step beyond what consumers can comprehend. We have so many other things to educate consumers about. So many remain confused about screw caps, for example. We don't want to make it more complicated."

Jo Ahearne, winemaker for Marks & Spencer, became convinced of the theory when she sampled more than 140 wines over two days:

"Before the tasting, I was really unconvinced, but the difference between the days was so obvious I was completely blown away."

The Guardian tested the theory this week and tasted the same wines on Tuesday evening, a leaf day, then again on Thursday evening, a fruit day. Five out of seven bottles showed a marked improvement.

"I was sceptical but I think the evidence was overwhelming," said David Motion, the London wine merchant who hosted the tasting. "I live in the city and don't think much about nature but it is clear it has an influence. The cosmos is forcing its way in."

In other quarters, doubts remain. Waitrose's wine department has investigated the idea and cannot see a correlation. Many scientists have little time for biodynamic wine, pointing out that the movement's guru, Rudolf Steiner, claimed to have conceived the concept after consulting telepathically with spirits beyond the realm of the material world.

Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, playwright and artist who lived between 1861 and 1925 was something of an enigma. He founded a spiritual movement called Anthroposophy, which works on the basis that children's creative, spiritual and moral dimensions need as much attention as their intellectual ones. A century before the emergence of TV celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, he also believed children should eat wholesome food. During his life, he was known as a literary scholar, artist, playwright and social thinker.

I think this is quite an interesting development but am really surprised to see the big supermarkets taking this seriously. I do think that not everything in life can be explained by science – though I won't be tasting my wines on “fruit days” in the near future!