Cosmic Flavour, Spiritual Nutrition?: The Biodynamic Agricultural Method and the Legacy of Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy in Viticulture

Abstract

In this chapter, a summary of Rudolf Steiner's teachings on agriculture is provided, focusing on those issues highlighted in his 1924 Agricultural Course. For the purposes of discussion, the chapter focuses on the application of Biodynamic methods in the modern viticulture industry. Material drawn from wine makers and growers, wine critics, and from scholarly sources is used to demonstrate that the Biodynamic method has become solidly embedded within some winemaking and wine consuming circles. These features also provide the content to embed in theories of cultural production. The discussion of the practices (and their associated beliefs) of Biodynamic Agriculture as a cultural product proves somewhat difficult. As Hirsch (1972) has defined them, cultural products-non-material goods that serve aesthetic and expressive functions-typically reside in the artistic realm. However, the non-material and expressive aspects of Biodynamics render it a 'product' that may be 'consumed'. Keywords:Anthroposophy; biodynamic agricultural method; modern viticulture industry; Rudolf Steiner; theories of cultural production