Making this wine has felt like reconnecting with nature. When I was at Steiner school, we were very connected to nature and the seasons. Through late night autumnal lantern processions or winter wicker man bonfires, we celebrated each and every season. It was all pretty whacked out and witchy, but I look back on those times with fondness and appreciation. 

At Steiner, we planted veggies and made wine. We had to get a permission slip to do it but we were making wine in year 8, which is pretty wild to think about! My parents still keep it up a little—they put together a nature table each season and it does bring a grounding vibe to the house. Autumn pumpkin soup always feels perfect when it is eaten at a table with fallen leaves as the centrepiece. It is intuitive.

Rudolf Steiner's biodynamic practices are a testament to his philosophy of interacting with nature more intuitively too. I don’t know for sure if burying the horn makes a huge difference, but I do know that the wine we drink that has been made without chemicals also has a much more complex and diverse flavour. It is alive and you can taste the sunshine. 

The moon is just as powerful as the sun when it comes to growing, fermenting, and ageing wine. It dictates our workload and is something we cannot control. For example, I have had some very stressful periods in my pickling business when a lunar flush has developed during a full moon. This can mean that the gherkin harvest is five times greater than we were expecting. Which is both stressful and beautiful. It is nice to know that in such a controlled modern world, Mother Nature can still surprise and humble us. 

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Moon / Lune

A giant orb in the sky and the earth’s only natural satellite. The mind waxes and wanes, rising to the rhythm of nature. Which signals a welcome relief in a world so governed by unnatural markers of time and accomplishments. What does it mean to give over to these divine forces of nature? 

It is a question that we have pondered since embarking on the journey of producing our own wine. A passion project that we began in the year our son was born and one that we have allowed to be guided by the cycles of the moon. From the pressing of grapes and the bottling of our finished product, to the release of those wines after they have been aged. 

Our first wine, for example—a 2021 skin contact Zibibbo—will be released on the October full moon this year, 18 months after the grapes it contains were first harvested from the vine. And our second wine—a 2022 minimal intervention Mourvèdre—was pressed earlier this year on the full moon of the autumn equinox and will be bottled this week, on the full moon following the spring equinox. 

It has been a process of trial and error, a largely intuitive process and one with an eye to nature. With a healthy respect for the moon that also imparts its influence over the way our earth spurts life forth. 

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Humbling is exactly the mood. It is why I’m obsessed with photographing the full moon each month—even though it is such a difficult moment to capture. And one that I know will be imperfect. I think it is actually because of this imperfection that I find it such a beautiful way to mark the time. 

And this sense of structure feels like a much more intuitive guide for our creative pursuits as well. For our wine and for the ceramics that we recently created with Tend.Ed too—collaborative pieces that are of the earth and were launched in line with the first full moon of spring. Inspired by traditional European tableware, these functional art ceramics are a way to look back and appreciate the simple art of eating seasonal food and drinking wine without chemicals, just as nature intended. They complement the wine we have been making in rhythm with the sun. 

There is a beautiful quote that I love by the philosopher Louis Pasteur. He says that ‘a bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world’. I think the wisdom of the fruit and the intuition of its makers creates a beautiful, unique expression in the bottle. 

It is like a love letter to the environment and that seasonal moment in time. Which is similar to biodynamic farming as an overall principle I think. And also what is so beautiful about your family’s seasonal nature table—a tradition I want to continue in our own family.

Practices like biodynamic farming can be heavily involved, but there are so many simple ways to integrate this sort of intuitive connection with nature into everyday life. From a seasonal table, to the choices we make around food and drink. Like mooncakes, for example, which began in Chinese culture as a traditional way to celebrate the seasonal harvest during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Their spherical shape symbolises both the fullness of the moon and the coming together of family.

Midsommar is another one that comes to mind here, a Swedish celebration that marks the summer solstice with the coming together of friends and family for a meal that honours nature. 

It is this spirit that we wish to bring into all our food and drink experiences at the moment.

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fin.