Thomas: I concur. It was a real pleasure to talk to him for the two hours or so I spent there.

I didnt say silica was more beneficial than conventional fungicide. In fact, in the study I cited, silicate didnt do as well as sulfur and in a year with very high disease pressure was not very effective. Indeed, silica and fungicides seem to protect plants by entirely different mechanisms, so there is nothing to preclude using them together.

As I said in my first post, biodynamic practitioners view the farm as a whole organism with the admirable goal of becoming self sufficient. Thus, an ideal biodynamic farm would have cows already as a source of manure, etc. Perhaps my word choice was a tad provocative, but harvesting horns, intestines, etc. does require killing the animal. I should be clear though that there is no ritualistic animal slaughter that I know of.

Thomas: Steiner doesnt give many specific instructions as to the burial place except not too deep in the earth. The preps are buried, then recovered after some time (usually after autumn and winter) and applied to the compost pile in small amounts, roughly a handful for a big pile. The compost is then either applied directly or sometimes as a tea of 1 to 10%. I believe that in the 2010 paper there is some evidence that compost teas are about as effective as direct application.

I think in very young Riesling, where one would expect a decent amount of fruit and juicy freshness, TDN can suppress that. To me, excessive petrol in young Riesling is a little off-putting. When its on the context of other aging- related aromas, its not so bad. Youll notice that the language of the paper does leave open the possibility of wanting increased tdn. However, at very high levels, tdn starts to smell like atypical aging: dirty dishrag, mothballs, etc. so Id rather it develop in the bottle to maximize aging potential.

Rowland: Lamoreaux Landing Estate White is approximately 50/50 Riesling/Gewürz and a great value at like $10.

AAAAAAAAAAGH THE HORROR! yes, THESE bugs didn't get crushed, but what about all the ones you couldn't see? does grasshopper taint smell like mint and chocolate? Also, If a Hottentot tot taught a Hottentot tot to talk ere the tot could totter, Ought a Hottentot tot be taught to say aught, or what ought to be taught her?

Everyone likes a good portmanteau. Oops, I mean sweet red fortified dessert wine-manteau.