Slow Food brings a tasting of biodynamic wines to Lidia's

Inspired by the awesome wine tasting opportunities offered by the Pittsburgh Wine Festival next Thursday, the local chapter of Slow Food, an international organization that promotes local and sustainable agriculture, is hosting a tasting of biodynamic wines at Lidia's restaurant in the Strip District at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Slow Food Pittsburgh is partnering with the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture on the tasting. Biodynamic wines are not new but they are becoming more numerous and more appreciated. In blind tastings by wine professionals, biodynamic bottles often score higher than their siblings made from non-bio grapes.

Biodynamic means farming in an organic, contained and self-sustaining system under principles developed in the 1920s by Austrian educator Rudolf Steiner, who viewed the farm as a living organism. Biodynamic farming is regenerative and dependent on interactivity with other crops, trees, animals and insects.

Energy radiating from the moon, stars and planets also plays a role. It is this idea that farming should be attuned to the spiritual forces of the cosmos that distinguishes biodynamic agriculture from other forms of organic or sustainable farming. All wines with a biodynamic certification will have a Demeter logo on the back label. Demeter is the biodynamic trade association that oversees this process worldwide.

The Slow Food tasting is an opportunity to try some exceptional wines from renowned vineyards in Europe and the United States and from a variety of grapes.

The wines are:

• Pacific Rim Wallula Vineyard Riesling 2007 from Washington state. This wine was named one of the Best 100 Wines of 2008 by the San Francisco Chronicle.

• Grgich Hills Napa Valley Chardonnay 2006. Legendary winemaker Mike Grgich has transformed his entire 366-acre vineyard using the biodynamic process.

• Coulee de Serrant Clos de Bergerie 2004. This iconic chenin blanc from the Loire Valley in France comes from Nicholas Joly, considered a guiding voice for the biodynamic movement.

• Robert Simskey Vineyard POV Napa Valley Red 2005. A traditional Bordeaux blend from California that outperformed more costly competitors in the San Francisco Chronicle tasting of 75 California Bordeaux-style wines.

• Crozes Hermitage Les Varonniers 2004 from the Northern Rhone Valley of France. Made from 100-percent syrah, this wine received 90 to 92 points from Robert Parker.

• Leone de Castris Donna Lisa Riserva 2000. Made in the Salice Salentino region of Italy, this wine is 90-percent negro amaro and 10-percent malvasia nera grapes. It was awarded the coveted "Tre Bicchiere" (three glasses) by Gambero Rosso Wine Journal in Italy.

• Napa Valley's Quintessa vineyard will pour the just-released Quintessa 2006, a Bordeaux blend. It is the winery's "showcase" wine, reserved for VIPs at the Pittsburgh Wine Festival.

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The wines will be paired with a special buffet of hors d'oeuvres prepared by Lidia's Chef Eric Wallace. Cost is $45 for members and $55 for nonmembers.

To reserve, contact neemes@aol.com or call 412-343-7354 and send a check to Jack Neemes, 265 Morrison Drive., Pittsburgh, Pa., 15216.

Reservations are limited.