Last night we went out to celebrate Matt’s birthday. We headed to the Lebanese Taverna, one of our favorite go to places for good food and great value. We’ve probably been there about 100 times in the nearly 5 years we’ve been in the area…what can I say, our first apartment was only a few blocks away!
I’ve always thought the restaurant had a solid wine list–they have a variety of interesting selections from all over the world, including a large selection of Lebanese wines which I think is pretty cool. They also change the list up regularly, so it stays fresh, and it’s pretty user friendly for folks who may not be wine geeks. The wines are listed by type and then style, so crisp and light and lush and full are two white wine categories.
Last night, I noticed a new addition. Next to several of the selections, in red ink, so it sttod out, were designations: Organic, sustainable, and bio-dynamic. Interesting. I’ve never seen that before and I wonder if most (if any) folks would really know what “bio-dynamic” meant if they saw it. Hey, who knows, maybe bio-dynamic will enter the popular wine lexicon…
Filed under: Lebanese Taverna, Misc, Restaurants, Wine |
Wannabe Wino Wine Blog 
Good question. I doubt the average wine drinker ordering a bottle at a restaurant would know the term bio-dynamic. Perhaps it might even be a disadvantage to list it on a menu since some customers might shy away from ordering what they don’t recognize or are familiar with.
It might be a different story if the restaurant itself was marketed as an organic, whole foods movement type of place because their customers might be familiar with sustainable farming practices, etc… since they seek out those types of restaurants. I’ll have to keep an eye out for similar listings on wine lists.
Ugh, biodynamic. Hopefully the public will learn to mock it for the same reason they mock “holistic,” “homeopathic,” and “astrology”.
It has as much validity as Miss Cleo.
Bio- dynamic has been around for a number of years. A visit to Benzinger shows a great example of this practice, where the winery is essentially a closed biological loop. Wi everything needed being produced on site. I do not believe it produces better wine, however, if you are into sustainable farming it is the way to go.
Biodynamic agriculture had been folk-practiced in Europe for centuries before Steiner documented and popularized it in the 1920’s. Joly has applied the practice at Coulée de Serrant since the 60’s. Benzinger is a great example of biodynamic winegrowing in CA. Skeptics should taste their Tribute release, a delicious Bordeaux-style blend. Hopefully the waiters at Lebanese Taverna have studied-up (the Wikipedia entry is a great place to begin) so they can answer questions from the naturally curious.
Loweel I hope you’re joking! 🙂 Although i agree Miss Cleo has no validty! 🙂
Bio-dynamic has been around for a while with fruit and veggie production so the people they are trying to no doubt appeal to will/should/might know what it means. And hopefully the staff is educated well enough to let patrons know what the heck they mean. Millenium restaurant in San Fran has this same nomenclature on their wine list, granted it is an all vegetarian restaurant.
And Benzigers Biodynamic farm tour is great, I highly recommend it.
I think it is a great idea. I don’t drink exclusively organic wines, but I lean towards them. If a restaurant wants to point these out, great! I have a restaurant near me in MA that used to do the same thing but the wine director left and they discontinued the practice.
Loweel, maybe you’re just joking, but if not; that’s a statement based on ignorance. Open your mind and do some research.
Dear Sonadora, this mornings discussion with Glenn McGourty – Biodynamics, of UC Davis Ag, at Growers meeting in Murphys, CA he discussed need to get funding to compare BioD to Sustain and Organ., Organic is great, but comes with a bigger carbon footprint than sustainable – my ? to him was is BioD’s footprint bigger than, smaller than or equal to either Organic or Sustainable?
Our Tanner Vineyards is Wine Institute certified sustainable – their program is excellent in following up with practical advice that allows the viticulturalist an ongoing tool to monitor and keep pace with ever changing advancements in agriculture. We are so fortunate as a boutique vineyard, to have the UC program available to us just like the big guys. It keeps California vineyards on the cutting edge of research! California rocks!
Hey all-
Thanks for the great comments and the input. Next time I’m there, I’m going to ask and see if the staff can actually explain what the terms mean, otherwise, it seems to me relatively useless to include on the menu…I don’t think you can yet assume that the average consumer would know the difference or even what Bio-d is at all!
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