Werewolf in Napa: How the Moon Affects Wine

(HP) - It tugs at the tide, boosts plant growth, and helps put us to sleep, but can it really influence the way we taste wine? For centuries, mystics have turned to the moon to guide them. Its phases have served as a reference point for sailors, doctors, farmers, and now... wine lovers?

Spend a few days around wine industry insiders and you're sure to hear the word biodynamic tossed around in conversation. Though the word rings of scientific study, it's really more of a blend between agriculture and astrology. Biodynamics provide "a unified approach to agriculture that relates the ecology of the earth-organism to that of the entire cosmos," according to the Association of Biodynamic Farming and Gardening. But what does that mean to us? It means we should look to the moon.

Biodynamic practices are based on the belief that the best wines are produced when vineyard tasks -- planting, pruning, harvesting etc. -- coincide with specific dates of the lunar calendar. And though these practices have long since been used to govern the production of wine, there are some biodynamic believers who insist that the moon also impacts how a wine tastes. After all, the moon affects the world's oceans, plant growth, and even our bodies... why should a bottle of wine be any exception?

Maria Thun, biodynamic researcher and full-on believer, created her first biodynamic calendar in the 1950s, which was used to direct farmers to the best time to plant their crops. More recently, she created When Wine Tastes Best 2014: A Biodynamic Calendar for Wine Drinkers, which was released on November 1, 2013.

According to her wine drinking guide, and the school of mystic science behind it, the year is broken down into four types of days: fruit, flower, leaf, and root days. Not every day is created equal, certainly not when it comes time to fill up your wine glass. The key to deciphering a biodynamic calendar is knowing the characteristics of each day: