September means that school's back in session folks, and its time to let you know that Organic doesn't mean diddly anymore. And if you're not already with it, get with it, or be left in the proverbial food-trend dust. And if you keep shopping at Whole Foods thinking you're doing just great, you're about to be dustier than an Idaho corn field after the gas stops pumping to feed the corn that was once planted there. The name of the game is the dollar bill ya'll, and if a label sells, then its due for expansion. If there's a bigger profit margin to be had, then standards are bound to drop lower; low enough so that "grass-fed" can mean 10,000 chickens sharing a patch of green the size of the "garden" behind your New York City apartment. Low enough that you can buy an organic teevee dinner if you so fancy. So low in fact, that even Wal-Mart can go organic.

But this isn't a forum for the rantings and ravings of food politicos, or crass generalizations either, but a column about science. And what is science here for? Science is here to help explain the complex, to share the details, if not the Facts themselves. Science is here to describe what Biodynamic farming means.

The whole idea of visiting "wine country" on a trip to the Bay Area did seem a bit yuppyish, but somehow my traveling companion and I ended up reserving a summer night at a bed and breakfast in Glen Ellen, CA, nestled within the hills of Sonoma Valley. Still not entirely believing the decision while driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, we agreed to visit the winery nearest to the place we were staying, to try to downplay our wine country retreat to ourselves as much as we could. What we ended up with was the Benziger family vineyard, one of only 15 Biodynamic wineries in America.

Biodynamics is a farming practice that is easiest to describe as "beyond organic." With a solid foundation in the principles of organic agriculture, biodynamics goes further with extra theory surrounding the best way to grow plants, based both in the scientific as well as the spiritual.

As a term, biodynamics predates "organic", originating from the teachings of Austrian scientist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner in 1924. Steiner was deeply troubled by the introduction of chemicals and fertilizers into agriculture and their impact both on the quality of the plants being grown and -- hold the critiques for a moment -- the life-force of the plant. In addition, the approach treats a farm as closed system, minimizing the amount of external additives used in cultivation and attempting to recycle as much of the waste as possible back into fueling the farm. The farm itself is seen as an entire organism, which needs to be able to sustain itself as a whole.

As we took a seat in the tractor-pulled carriage which would be our transportation for the vineyard tour, our guide took no time to begin extolling the virtues of the biodynamic practice. "We focus on the whole picture with our grapes," he starts. "From the Universe, to the stars, to the sun and down into the roots." Whoa. His next statement was almost as surprising. "This estate is 85 acres in size, but only 40 of those acres are growing grapes." What seems at first like a waste of land is actually the key to biodynamic agriculture.

Most of those other acres are used to grow the supporting components of the vineyard; trees and plants that all serve a purpose in preserving the health of the mini-ecosystem. Much of this land serves as wildlife sanctuary: tree groves to house birds and owls that act as natural pest control, eating goobers and rodents that could be harmful to the grapes. Insectaries grow a myriad of plants, specifically to attract the "good bugs" of the world, the insects that feed on organisms that could be harmful to the vines. The careful planning of this design ensures that the vineyard will stay healthy without the need of chemical additives.

A large portion of the estate is devoted to a collection pond for water storage. The vineyard itself has an almost bowl shaped topography, which our guide noted as one of the appealing aspects that attracted the Benziger family to this land. The bowl funnels rain water into the collection pond, which is used to irrigate the vines, and most of the irrigation water flows back down into the pond, recycling this scarce commodity.

Biodynamic farmers are also nuts about their compost. Not only is all plant waste from the vineyard composted, but the compost is treated with herbal mixtures (their website asks us to think of them as "vitamins fro the soil") which help boost the amount of microorganisms in the soil and thus its benefit to the plants.

By working towards the biodynamic goal, the 25 year old Benziger vineyard was certified biodynamic by the Demeter Association -- the organization which certifies these types of things -- in 2000. Now entering their 6th year as a biodynamic vineyard, they are still one of a handful of other vineyards in the US, and even the world, to use such techniques. Since their conversion to biodynamics, their vines have been free of any pests, problems, or disease.

Wine grape growing is a practice which already prides itself with attention to detail. The variables involved in the growth of grapes are vast and complex. Not only are there a huge variety of grape types, but the exposure to sunlight, temperature fluctuation, moisture level, pruning of the vine, size of the overall plant, root structure and soil type all play into the unique flavor of a grape, and thus the unique characteristics of the wine produced from that grape. For this reason the benefits of biodynamics are particularly interesting to wine makers, who already are looking for that special something which will make a stellar wine.

Although the sustainability of the farming practices used by Benziger is not in dispute, it is less clear if the vineyard is financially sustainable as well. The commitment to biodynamics clearly taxes the vineyard's budget with the extra man-power and care necessary to make the biodynamic process work (they are not just growing grapes, they are growing insects, owls and compost too). At the same time, the growers there would certainly argue that those expenses are balanced by what they save by avoiding insect outbreaks or blight. In addition, they insist that the practices have a noticeable effect on the quality of their bio-wines, and their higher price could also balance these additional costs.

It is important to note, however, that only 5% of the 190,000 bottles of wine produced at Benziger each year are biodynamic. Most of their grapes are grown in other locations and trucked to the winery located on the biodynamic vineyard. But it is the biodynamic vineyard where the tour is given, and the biodynamic wines that get the press. Looked at from this perspective, the extra costs of going biodynamic could be weighed off by the boost these wines give to the Benziger image altogether; not unlike how the relatively few $20,000 Versace gowns establish an image that spurns millions in profits from less costly shirts and jeans. In the competitive wine business, a vineyard will take any chance it can get in differentiating itself from the competition.

Heading down the tree lined drive towards the gate of the estate, it seems that we got more than your standard Sonoma vineyard tour by choosing the closest one we could. We discovered a story that was far more interesting than just the fermentation of grapes. But in the end, it seems science alone can not fully explain everything about biodynamic farming. It can explain why the Benziger vineyard raises ladybugs to prey on the aphids that can wreak havoc on a grape vine, but does it explain why their vines have been immune to any disease since the vineyard became biodynamic? Is it the herbal tea extracts in the compost, or perhaps the healthy spirit of the Whole farm organism that strengthens the plants growing within? Either way, it seems that approaching farming with the knowledge of sustainable ecosystems in mind is a step in the right direction. In this respect, it seems that the future of agriculture may be found in the past, as almost all agriculture prior to the 20th century could be called biodynamic.

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