This vineyard looks like many others, but it's what you don't see that makes this one unique. These vines are grown biodynamically, a farming method made popular by an Austrian scientist and philosopher named Rudolph Steiner. The plants we grow, anyone grows, depend on air, light, water, soil, the sun and the moon. Everything in our universe is interconnected. It's dynamic.At Ceago, it is our mission to explore and apply methods that allow all of that to work together, biodynamically, to produce the highest quality products possible.

Composting

You might say it's all in the compost. These piles contain sheep manure, straw, horse manure and vegetative matter from the ranch. But they also have some special preparations that are added to regulate decomposition and enrich the life in the soil once it's applied to the vines.

Biodynamic Preparations

The compost preparations consist of different herbs and vegetative material. Yarrow, chamomile, valerian, stinging nettle, dandelion and oak bark: 6 materials that work together to enhance soil life. They are stored in a cool, moist, dark corner of the Ceago cellar.

Prep 500, Horn Manure

There are three other preparations that make biodynamic farming exceptional: horn silica, barrel compost and horn manure. These female cow horns contains high quality cow manure. They are buried in the ground on the fall equinox and removed on the spring equinox. The horn manure has a rich, sweet earthly quality that enhances microorganism life once applied.

Stirring Machine

Above the prep cellar you'll find a 90-gallon stainless steel tank that stirs the preparations before they can be applied to the vines and soil. This is a part of the process that many find intriguing. The water, along with the preparations, is stirred continuously to create a vortex. Once a vortex is established, the machine reverses direction creating chaos in the water, which is belived to promote micro-organism growth once the preparation is applied to the soil. The entire stirring process takes one hour.

Spraying Machine

The preparations are all applied differently, some to the compost pile itself, some to the ground, others to the plant. The time of day, time of year and the lunar cycles play a big role in the timing of the applications. This cosmic or universal consideration is an ancient concept; moon and sun rhythms along with celestial events do affect plant growth and formation.

Cover Crops

Cover crops are specially selected, beneficial plants intermingled among the vine rows to store nutrients like nitrogen. They also stabilize soil during heavy rains and hold moisture during drought periods. Cover crops also provide forage for the animal life at Ceago.

Sheep

There are about 40 sheep at Ceago. Most of them are Rambouillets, a hardy breed that produces a fine wool. Biodynamic farming encourages self-sustaining methods. The sheep are an excellent example. They control cover crops and weeds, the manure is used in the compost that in turn produces healthy vines and wine. We are nourished from their meat and clothed by their wool.

Chickens

Chickens share the vineyards with the sheep and crew. Our Rhode Island Reds control cutworms that can feed on vine roots. This type of chicken is a prolific egg producer, supplying enough eggs to keep all the staff on the ranch well fed at breakfast.

Tule Fields

Tule's grow along Ceago Del Lago's shoreline. Tule's were once harvested by Pomo Indians to be used as building material. We now harvest tules and use them to tie grapevines.