Some people regard Rudy Marchesi, president and chief viticulturist at Montinore Estate, as an artisan. A fair descriptor though this is not the core of his success. Exceptional practicality and results-oriented thinking with a healthy dose of curiosity and generosity remain his foundation, leading to a career of constant learning and, now, influence on an international level, thanks to Biodynamic methodology.

Created by philosopher and scientist Dr. Rudolf Steiner, who first explained it in a series of agriculture lectures in 1924, Biodynamics was new to Marchesi in 1979, when a college friend came to help him with his new vineyard. “He had spent several months working on the Findhorn Farm in Scotland where they had pioneered Biodynamic farming in that area. His stories of the practices, the composts and the remarkable vegetables all were inspiring,” Marchesi explained.