So there I was browsing through the Look and Taste videos at midnight last night and I stumbled across one of Niall’s most recent cookery master strokes. This video had me salivating severely, and a bowl of cornflakes just didn’t satisfy the craving. It’s definitely one I’ll be trying out myself very soon. A must watch video.

I’m sticking with Burgundy on this one, where Pinot Noir is the grape of choice for reds. Duck has quite strong, earthy flavours and it would certainly be more robust than Chicken, so for me, Red Burgundy nails it with those mushroomy, barn-yard, plummy characteristics. The Moillard Bourgogne Rouge would be an ideal partner to this dish.

However, there is also a case for a more fruit-forward Pinot Noir, considering the sweetness of the potatoes and the honey and orange sauce. Pinot Noir from the warmer climate Languedoc region would possess more ripe, sweet fruit and a slightly fuller body. If this is more your gig, I would point you to the qualities of the award winning Madman Pinot Noir (Le Fou).

Back to Burgundy, you still won’t be far off the beat if it’s got to be white. In fact, many prefer white to red when eating duck. A weighty, and well concentrated Chardonnay may just do the trick.

Video courtesy of Look and Taste.

Following on from our pre-Christmas post (Lunar Organic the Next Craze?) and the addition of the glorious new wines to our list, it’s fitting to look at a newbie that practices bio-dynamic farming. Not quite hocus pocus potions, monthly moon cycles or religious sacrifices, but a method that utilises the principles of organic farming.

Jean-Marc Brocard’s Vielle Vignes was pouring white wine on Concorde for around 10 years. He’s a man that truly believes that the quality of his wine comes from the uniqueness of the vineyard’s soil and geographical position, but it is his son, Julian, who has been the real advocate for bio-dynamic farming.

Bio-dynamics is a systems approach where the farm is viewed as a living whole, in which each farm activity will have a knock on effect upon natural processes within the vineyard. Here are just three examples of bio-dynamic techniques:

• Introduction of predators to vary grazing patterns and reduce pasture borne parasites
• Recycling of organic wastes, where possible, by large scale composting
• Use of bio-dynamic sprays to stimulate biological activity in the soil

The Brocard vineyards are proudly herbicide and pesticide-free, thanks to this natural policy. Furthermore the winemaking is carried out in full respect of the Chablis traditions with the use of stainless steel tanks, and to add a modern twist, use of the latest and most modern computerised vinification techniques.

Chablis wines take their world famous mineral and fresh character from the vine’s roots, which dig deep into the subsoil, consisting of limestone, clay and marine fossils. Many believe that only in Chablis can the Chardonnay grape produce wines of such finesse.

So do these bio-dynamic methods really make Brocard a more special Chablis than those that continue to use herbicides and pesticides?

With very limited external inputs and the recycling of animal waste, I believe the most tangible benefit of bio-dynamic farming is the low impact on the environment. It also provides an economical way of farming in which most of the costs are met at the time they are incurred, thus offering a solution to conflicts between economics and the environment.

As for the wine itself, there’s no doubt that the Brocard Petit Chablis is classic Chablis Chardonnay - deliciously pure, delicate with good fruit, minerality and the perfect balance. Whether that’s a result of bio-dynamic farming techniques or the Burgundy ‘terrior’ on which it is grown, that’s up to the consumer to decide. I would tend to believe that the soil and the winemaking has the last say, although I’m very open to the idea that organic wine adds a little something extra, even if it is just in my head. What it certainly won’t do is cause us any harm, and if it helps the environment in the process, then I’m all for it.

Try to imagine a long line. At one end is full-on, industrial wine making with fertilisers, fungicides and satellite images of carbon dioxide uptake rates. Yes, that’s right, the €5.99 slush on offer in the supermarket and kind of tastes like the wine you had last week. As you move along you find those who commit themselves to using fewer pesticides and so on. That’s usually called the “reasoned struggle” in France, or integrated pest control management (IPM) in the New World. A little further down the line is organic wine making - certified, regulated and approved, and a bit knit-your-own-yoghurt. And finally we reach the wonderful, whacky world of ‘lunar-organic’ wine making.

‘It’s a way of cultivating grapes that follows the code of practice of organic agriculture and also takes into account the phases of the moon’. As the ascending moon rises, the sap is drawn up through the soil. Similarly no ploughing, hoeing or earthing up occurs during the waning moon for fear of disturbing the soil. Vine treatments (organic or course) must be applied just before the full moon and new moon. All this is combined with ‘ancestral savoir-faire’ and some homoeopathic sprays to ensure the vines make the best grapes they can.

And here’s the rub. Scientifically a lot of this appears to be nonsense. Empirically a lot of it is very hard to test. But as with so many wines made like this, or using full blown bio-dynamics, the Moillard wines are very good, individual and distinctive. And science does at least agree that vineyard soil in places like Moillard are hotbeds of biodiversity and microbial life.

Recently Frank at Robert Francis Wine tasted the Moillard Pinot Noir of the Domaine du Chateau d’Eau range (see video), which are all lunar organic, scoring a very respectable 88/100. Can’t be bad to that for under a tenner on special.

Chateau d’Eau Pinot Noir

Chateau d’Eau Merlot

Chateau d’Eau Merlot Rose

Chateau d’Eau Sauvignon

Chateau d’Eau Viognier

Chateau d’Eau Chardonnay