heart about what I felt was possible in our climate and what my goals really were with biodynamic viticulture. I came to accept, then appreciate, and then, like most everyone else here in the South, love the native grapes of North Carolina. North Carolina viticulture was world renowned before the Prohibition and famously is home to one of the oldest grapevines in the world, the Mothervine. I knew this region had the ability to produce grapes naturally and assuredly our local native American tribes were doing something not too dissimilar from the practices inherent to the Biodynamic movement but that it would take focusing on the varietals that these peoples had at their disposal, evolved to be the ideal grape candidate for Southern Biodynamics. These grapes are tolerant to the hot humidity, acidic clay soils, and late-summer to early-fall hurricanes. I chose my own plot of land based on its seclusion, totally surrounded and protected by the abundant biodiversity of southern Appalachia, its higher elevation, which doesn't sound like much but here in the Foothills 1200 ft towers above the town below, and the high content of quartz revealed through the breakdown of ancient granite. We believe this quartz has many benefits to our vineyards. For one, it breaks up our famous red clay soils to allow for drainage. It also amplifies solar energy. This promotes ripening of the vines and, even more importantly in our humid environment, promotes the formation of drying convection currents that wick away moisture from our vines. Atop this hill-top fortress in the foothills of America's oldest mountain range was a perfectly flat location I used to build a unique winery designed for wild fermentation and the ancestral method that runs off of well water, cleans with ozone, and allows us to control multiple rooms for specific temperatures and humidities at various control points in our process, all based on my research on wild bacteria and yeasts and the meticulous planning I began back in graduate school. What I didn't expect was that our wild fermented meads would actually become our bread and butter and land us international acclaim. We hope to start building our own hives and produce the first Biodynamic mead using this honey once we can make the business profitable.
When and where did you first learn about Biodynamic farming? What aspects most resonated with you, and caused you to pursue certification?
I don't remember not being into Biodynamic farming. I know I wanted to do this since I was a kid both in reading about it and visiting Biodynamic farms around the world. The passion these people had, I noticed as a kid, was unparallelled so they must be on to something. I knew this was the true way farming should be done. What resonates with me most is the focus on long term soil and plant health. As a microbiologist I have spent a lot of research hours on soil and gut microbiomes, and I am convinced that we barely understand the depth of importance beneficial microbes have on an ecosystem and on our bodies. The interactivity between microbe, plant, and man is boundless and to holistically look at an ecosystem as its namesake, a system, we must consider the holistic approach that Biodynamics provides.
What have you found particularly challenging about Biodynamic production? What have you found rewarding? Was it difficult to get through the certification process for your first year?
We have been since day 1 working off of Biodynamics literature so we actually had a pretty easy time with certification, we never had to convert the farm or relearn our ways to get Demeter certified. I honestly have long forgotten my education in regards to the chemical-dependent approach to viticulture; we've never sprayed our vineyards with anything or even irrigated these vines, so we've devised this plot with nature not just in mind but in control. We are simply stewards of this already functioning ecosystem we have graciously been invited to plant vines in. The biggest reward is in knowing the best soil is in our future and everything builds on the previous year. There is something satisfying about knowing that nothing you do will be lost, simply transformed. What a great microcosm of freedom within a greater universe that abides by these same laws of physics.
Do you find that your customers are aware of Biodynamics and what it means? Are they interested? Do you do outreach on the topic?
My distributors and retailers know what it means and the certification helps to legitimize our story and values. Honestly customers in North Carolina haven't heard of Biodynamics yet since we are the first. I give a lot of presentations and tours and we talk about it at all our farmers markets and on sales runs. We are 600 miles from the nearest Biodynamic vineyard so we are definitely trailblazing it out here!
What steered your choice to focus on Muscadine grapes? Do you feel this choice is particularly suited for Biodynamic production?
The choice not just fits but is essential to Biodynamic grape growing in the southeast. Muscadine is a culturally significant heirloom to this region that predates conventional agriculture. Nature is screaming from the rooftops to grow what does best for your environment. If everyone specializes in growing the crops that are native to their region isn't that the Biodynamic dream? We are talking planting species that do not disrupt the existing natural ecosystem. Our birds, microbes, and weeds already know how to live harmoniously with our muscadine. When thunder claps down from our seasonal hurricanes the muscadine sits there, laughing, clapping right back.
What are your plans for the future?
Expansion. Right now we are a small vineyard I like to think of more as a proof of concept than a commercial powerhouse, yet it is attached to a brand that is starting to have some real growth with its canned meads and ciders and may soon get out of its "startup" phase, so we have created some cash cows meant to help get us to the point of being able to invest in expanding our Biodynamic vineyard and apiary to large scale commercialization. First we need to find the support of the local communities, of course some support of our work and folks buying our products online is a huge help too. Our dream is to sell enough mead and cider to put money into expanding the first Biodynamic vineyard in the region and to build the first Biodynamic apiary in the South as well so we can start putting out Biodynamic certified wines and meads (and pyments for those in the know) into the market but, as anyone here with a winery or vineyard knows, its a long uphill battle to get things profitable enough to expand. We have built up a dozen-state distribution map but margins are very tight, opportunity for shelf space is limited here in this area, and so every dollar counts right now in our current hustle. We are always looking for new opportunities and the potential of finding an investor out there interested in partnering with us to bring the South into the natural wine/mead movement certainly goes up with us getting certified so we will see. I have high hopes for our future as long as I can find a few more opportunities for us to reach profitability we will get there and begin to build quite an incredible business out here.
