Happy Birthday! – The Wine Idealist is 3 Years Old!

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The Wine Idealist is 3 years old! Happy Birthday to The Wine Idealist!

Thank you for reading!

I started this blog, back in November 2012, because I wanted to learn more about natural, organic, and biodynamic wines, specifically from Australia and New Zealand. And, because I like drinking wine… obviously.

Being a journalist, I figured the best way to learn about something was to ask questions. So, I started interviewing the people who were making natural, organic, and biodynamic wine…

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– THE WINEGROWERS –

I started with Ross McDonald from Macquariedale Organic Wines in the Hunter Valley. Click the Image to read one of the first editions of The Wine Idealist…

Ross has been a great source of knowledge and information for me since I started The Wine Idealist. He’s been a great supporter of any ideas or projects that I’ve dreamt up, including sinking some of his wine underwater for three months, and the What’s In Your Glass? wine festival. He even let me make some of my own wine during the 2014 vintage! He’s one of the pioneers of organic winegrowing in the Hunter Valley, my home, and a bit of legend because of this.

That first encounter with Ross gave me the confidence to keep going, keep asking questions, and ever since then, I’ve had the privilege to meet and speak with some of Australia and New Zealand’s greatest winegrowers, makers, and thinkers… including:

• Millton Vineyards
• Castagna
• Jasper Hill
• Cullen

As well as young gun iconoclasts, such as:

• Jauma
• Patrick Sullivan
• Bobar
• Si Vintners

And, other winemakers that might not have totally fit the brief of natural, organic, and biodynamic wine, but were well worth talking to, nonetheless…

• Clonakilla
• De Iuliis
• Tinklers

Every single one of these wine producers has enabled me to go beyond the glass by telling me their own unique stories, and helping satisfy my thirst for knowledge… and wine. Thank You!

You can read many more stories from Australia and New Zealand by clicking on the links.

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– BIODYNAMICS –

As I fell, ever deeper, into the rabbit hole of biodynamics, organics, and natural winemaking techniques, my mind expanded to make room for even more questions, which of course, needed answers. I still didn’t quite understand biodynamics as a farming system. It all sounded a little strange to me (and to be honest some bits of it still do!), but I needed to understand, so I asked some more questions…

Brian Keats is the creator of the Antipodean Astro Calendar, which is an essential tool and source of information for biodynamic farmers and winegrowers all over Australia and New Zealand. Talking with Brian, I finally got a sense about what the calendar actually did, and how it was used. Click the Image to read my story on Brian’s biodynamic calendar.

Whenever I’ve written about biodynamics as The Wine Idealist, it has always been from the standpoint of a student. Whether I’m reading, talking, or writing, I’m always learning. In this case, I’m simply trying to make sense of biodynamics as a farming system and a sustainable way to grow grapes… Read past editions of The Wine Idealist that focus’ solely on biodynamics by clicking on the link:

• The Soil = The Soul (500)
• Use The Light Force (501)
• The Other Preparations (502-508)
• Slow Down. Skill Up. How to Convert to Biodynamics
• A (rather bolshy) Case for Biodynamics in the Wine Industry

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– NATURAL WINE –

This is a blog dedicated to writing about natural, organic, and biodynamic wine. Natural wines have had their fair share of controversy, scorn, and derision heaped upon them, mostly by writers, commentators, and pundents who say they’re wine lovers, in the same way a person who only listens to Top 40 music says they love music.

Occasionally, I’ve thrown my two cents into the fermenting demijohn of discourse and debate over the subject of natural wine…

The above image was first posted in July 2014, after I read an appalling piece by Bruch Palling in Newsweek where he said, “natural wine tastes worse than putrid cider.”

After reading it, I wrote a fairly impassioned reply to such plain-as-day bullshit, attempting to argue for the existence of natural wine as just another way of fermenting grapes within the vast, colourful and beguiling spectrum of wine throughout our wide and wonderful world.

Click the Image to read the whole story…

At other times, I’ve felt compelled to write about natural wines – outside of the perspective of a winemaker – in the hope that those reading will gain a greater, and more objective, understanding of the subject that still hasn’t totally been defined…

• Is Natural Wine A Fad?
• Of Place and Time
• A Word on Wine

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– THANK YOU –

I’ve met a lot of amazingly passionate and talented people during the last three years writing as The Wine Idealist. It’s opened a lot of doors that have led me beyond my initial curiosity, allowing me to find many more wines and their makers and the stories that lie behind them…

Thank you to anyone who’s ever interacted with #wineidealism on the social networks, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – I’ve met a lot of cool people this way! Thank you to anyone who’s signed up to the Wine Idealist mailing list – and if you haven’t already, do it now!

Thank you to anyone who’s ever asked me to contribute to their own wine related projects, including the awesome sauce that is The Vincast, the Real Wine Fair in London, and the Hot 100 in Adelaide. And, a BIG THANK YOU to the various publications and outlets that constantly email me and ask me to provide them with copy or quotes about natural, organic and biodynamic wine from Australia and New Zealand…

When all is said and done, The Wine Idealist is a passion project. I don’t earn any money from it – despite a few attempts at trying to – and it does cost a lot of time to bring you these in-depth stories each and every week…

If you enjoy drinking these types of wines, support this type of agriculture, and like reading the stories that lie beyond the glass, please consider supporting The Wine Idealist by making a donation, or buying original and unique wine related merch, or an original photo print from The Wine Idealist Store!

(There’s heaps of awesome and unique ideas for Christmas… just saying…)

No one ever asked me to start writing about natural, organic, and biodynamic wines from Australia and New Zealand. I did it because I wanted to. I wanted to learn more about (and drink) these types of wines, and I reckon over the last three years, thanks to connections and conversations I’ve had with many, many, excellent human beings, and a lot of hard work, I’ve probably learnt a thing, or two… so…

Thank you very much for reading The Wine Idealist!

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Daniel Honan – The Wine Idealist

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