Biodynamic farming is an agricultural approach developed by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, treating the vineyard as a holistic, self-sustaining ecosystem, and it incorporates nine specific preparations made from
herbs, minerals, and animal parts (such as cow horns filled with manure buried over winter) applied to the soil and vines at times determined by the lunar calendar; this method goes beyond organic certification by emphasizing the spiritual and cosmic influences on plant
health, and it includes practices like
planting according to planetary cycles, promoting biodiversity, and relying on composted materials; in poetry, biodynamics provides a rich vocabulary of earthiness, cycles, and mysticism, where the vine is not just a crop but a participant in a cosmic
dance, and its adherents, such as many top estates in Burgundy and the Loire, argue that it yields wines with greater purity and
expression of place.