Christopher Ehrhart was soft-spoken as he addressed French Wine Society members in Washington last week. As an 11th generation grape -grower, he had a lot to say about farming the earth.

He makes the wine at Domaine Josmeyer in Alsace, although he'll tell you quite directly that that is not the case. "I'm not a winemaker," he announced by way of introduction. "I grow grapes."

The term winemaker has no direct translation into French and for this Frenchman, the concept of making wine is even more foreign to him than most, although that is what he does, and does well.

He farms biodynamically.

Biodynamics carries the organic concept several steps forward. Besides eschewing all agro-chemicals and man-made fertilizers, biodynamic farmers coordinate vineyard and winemaking practices with the movements of the moon and stars. It is as much a philosophy as a viticultural practice, and Ehrhart makes a worthy prophet.

"The bombs of World War I contained nitrogen," he said. "Where the bombs fell, there was lots of vegetation. People noticed this and started to use nitrogen in the fields. At first, the plants were very productive. But the plants grew too fast. The plant cells were big and were vulnerable to disease. Potatoes that were farmed with nitrogen, for example, rotted after only a few weeks. They had no staying power.

"There was nitrogen in the soil and it filtered into the ground water so that each time the plants drank, they were forced to eat. It's very similar to when we eat salty things. When we eat salty things, we drink more. It's a vicious cycle and it can't be broken."

"The result is that, at 3 years of age, a grapevine (on nitrogen) can produce a crop, but this is like asking a 5-year-old to run a marathon. It will sap his strength because he is not yet formed. At Josmeyer, we let plants work in the natural way. If it takes us two years longer to produce a crop, we're OK with that because we are working for the next generation. The idea of pushing the vine for high (and early) yields doesn't work very well."

Patience rewards Josmeyer with vines that are less susceptible to disease, but his neighbors have ridiculed his vineyard practices and his avant garde mindset.

Josmeyer uses no herbicides. There are "weeds" among the vines, leading one neighbor to comment snidely that Josmeyer "feeds the rabbits."

"Of course, I feed the rabbits," Ehrhart replied. "At your place, they've got nothing to eat."

Herbicides, he explains, kill the soil and the healthful bacteria that reside within it. With less life, there is less water and gas exchange within the soil. It compacts, rendering it more difficult to work. The vineyard is clean but sterile.

"In our vineyard, we alternate between rows of grass and rows of plowed earth. Our neighbors thought we were crazy. 'Till the earth? When the rains come, you'll be shoveling your vineyard back up the slope!'

"But guess who shovels the vineyard back up the slope. Not us. A compacted, sterile soil can absorb 2 millimeters (.08 inches) of water in an hour. Our soils can absorb 38 millimeters (1.54 inches) of water in an hour."

Biodynamics, he says, "is the best way to understand the vines and to make good grapes. The most important thing is not how the vines are eating but what they are eating.

If you make good grapes, the wines build themselves.

"Today, we have tomatoes that look like tomatoes, but aren't. They ripen under a sodium light and have no taste. We have roses that don't smell. We distill spring water and add back minerals. This is a very different product than water that filters through the earth picking up both minerals and the energy of the earth, just like a vitamin C solution is quite different from orange juice."

His farming philosophy gives one pause for thought.

I tasted his wines looking for that "je ne sais quois", that indescribable something, that energy that he was so intent on capturing.

Was it there?

Does the moon circle the earth? Does the earth orbit the sun?

Josmeyer Pinot Blanc "Mise du Printemps" 2005 (Bacchus, $17)

Gorgeous. Intense minerality and pear puree. If a wine could be beautiful, this one would stand as Ms. France.

Josmeyer Riesling "Le Dragon" 2004 (Bacchus, $43)

A racy, high-acid white full of jasmine and honeysuckle. You'll want to dab a little behind each ear.

Josmeyer Pinot Gris "Le Fromenteau" 2005 (Bacchus, $35)

Fat, rich and hedonistic, this white was redolent with smoke, mushrooms and roasted chestnut. Fantastic stuff.

Lisa Airey is a certified wine educator.

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