Voodoo Vintners by Katherine Cole

If I had read this book while I was taking the UC Davis Online Viticulture and Enology courses, I would have been a more informed contributor to our forum discussions when it came to biodynamics. Too bad for me, this well researched and eminently readable book on biodynamics was just published in 2011. It is clear that Katherine Cole goes out of her way to provide a balanced view on this topic. She begins her introduction with a detailed description of all of the preparations that are the underpinnings of biodynamic farming that makes scientists roll their eyes. Then in her first chapter, she tells a harrowing escape from Iran story, no connection? But there is, and this is where I paused to reflect that using the term "biodynamics" was perhaps merely semantics.
Katherine Cole also gives us an in depth look into the life of Rudolph Steiner putting him in the historical context of the late 19th century to the early 20th century, during the Industrial Revolution. His contemporaries were notables such as Einstein and Nikola Tesla.
She provides vignettes of farmers in Oregon using biodynamic preparations and farming and the passion they exhibit for keeping their soils healthy, believing that this is the key to growing the best grapes possible, which in turn yields the best possible wine.
What Alex Sokol Blosser is quoted as saying resonants with how I feel: "At the end of the day, it's all about farming for quality. If you farm for quality---whether you're organic, biodynamic, sustainable, or conventional---you're going to make great wine." This reminds me of what Alice Feiring learned in Naked Wine when she visited Jacques Néuport, he told Alice that there is no such thing as "natural wine" and that one cannot be married to a dogma, you need to do what the grapes want you to do. (I'm taking HUGE paraphrasing liberties here.)
If you want to untangle myth, voodoo and reality from biodynamics, reading Katherine Cole's "Voodoo Vinters" is a must.