"With most wines showing best on fruit and flower days, drinkers face a tricky weekend. From 8am today until 10pm tomorrow is a root day. Flower day starts at 11pm tomorrow. In the next week, the best drinking time looks to be from 8pm on Wednesday until 11am on Thursday and from 6pm on Friday and throughout Saturday - both fruit periods. Lunchtime on Wednesday looks the worst time for wine." Tesco and supermarket rivals go for wine tasting by moonlight, The Guardian, 18th April, 2009.
With some of the ideas that swirl around the wine trade you could be forgiven that African witch doctors have taken over dispensing wine wisdom. Then in the celebratory year - 200th year of birth - for Charles Darwin when vast numbers of educated people reject his ideas no one should be surprised about wine evaluation in the wine trade. At times though some ideas are so bizarre they stop you in your tracks with such a force that you blink twice as you struggle for a response.
I read recently (Winestate Annual) that such is the embrace of the weird ideas of Rudolph Steiner which takes the smart sounding name of bio-dynamic viticulture that there is a shortage of cow horns to bury in vineyards. You see if you fill the cow horn with dung and bury it in the vineyard good things will happen. You would want to do this at night as it would be so embarrassing if you were spotted during daylight.
Another bit of witchcraft that regularly does the rounds is the use of magnets or a magnetic field to improve wines. Interestingly those who promote and sell these gadgets make much of the benefit that it will gracefully age the wine yet this is the age of drinking wines fresh and young.
"The concept is an extension of biodynamic farming in which decisions about when to sow and prune are made according to patterns of lunar and cosmic rhythms. It was developed from a series of lectures given in 1924 by the Austrian philosopher-scientist Rudolf Steiner.
Tesco has used the calendar for more than two years to decide on times for its thrice-yearly critics' tastings, but has not shared its belief with customers for fear it will add yet more mystique to wine. "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."
So there you have it and before you jump to conclusions about my views on viticulture and sustainability it's only the witchcraft I think should be mocked not sound, sensible farming practices. And as for Mr. Petrassi views that his beliefs may be beyond what consumers can comprehend he might add me to the list.