- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Nearly 200 growers, vintners, retailers, sommeliers and other tradespeople attended a workshop on biodynamic winemaking Dec. 2, prompting San Francisco Examiner wine blogger Annette Hanami to suggest the process is becoming mainstream.
"Ultimately, biodynamic wines are becoming mainstream because consumers demand it," the author wrote. "Biodynamic products are becoming less 'kooky' and more attractive than the scarier mass-produced alternatives."
UC Cooperative Extension teamed up with Demeter USA to offer the biodynamic program and UC farm advisors Glenn...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Cooperative Extension involvement in a biodynamic farming workshop Dec. 2 in Napa has been met with criticism from a local vintner who believes the farming system is a hoax, according to a story in the Napa Valley Register.
The article said Stu Smith, the co-owner of Smith-Madrone Vineyards and Winery, is “shocked and outraged” that UC Cooperative Extension is co-sponsoring a “Shortcourse in Biodynamic Winegrowing.”
Smith, who earned a master’s degree in enology and viticulture at UC Davis, said that UCCE should participate only if it’s a balanced...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
After a hard life - which included multiple divorces, alcoholism, drug addiction, the loss of a young son and bankruptcy - specialty fertilizer producer Denise Ritchie is now finding gratification by rescuing dairy cows before slaughter and using manure to create biodynamic compost.
Ritchie's story was featured this week in a Los Angeles Times Column One article by Martha Groves. She and her husband Randy purchased a dairy cow at auction last August. The animal was christened Bu, ensconced at a friend's organic dairy farm near Fresno, and became the namesake for the Ritchies' "Bu's Blend Biodynamic Compost."
According...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
One of the reasons McGourty applied for the position, he explained in his written application, was because UC President Mark Yudof encouraged all UC faculty to reach out to K-12 education, "as the future depends on quality public schools in the state."
McGourty was also asked in the application about his knowledge of the Governor's budget and its impact to education.
"The present budget is...