PHILOSOPHY
Sometimes words are not able to express the message in a wine…
… Wine according to COTE
After traveling over a short but intense journey, we came to the conclusion that the importance is in these small things, the things that we don’t see but that we feel and with a experienced firsthand conviction, given to us by our ancestors that good things require an effort, I discovered what we base our philosophy on.
To know how to extract the characteristics of the grape at the right time…
Sometimes words are not able to express the message in a wine…
Enjoy making wine, because this nectar is simply incapable of lying, it doesn’t matter if you harvest early or late, the wine will always speak to your palate with a total and unchanging honesty every time you take a sip…
Never say always, Never say never…
THE THEORY OF THE FIVE ELEMENTS
The Five Elements theory is a way to classify natural phenomena, and those interrelationships, according to traditional Chinese philosophy. A more literal translation would be five phases or five movements, so as not to lose the dynamic and transformational quality that it has in Chinese. This theory is applied to fields as diverse as music, traditional Chinese medicine, agriculture or Feng Shui.
The five elements are: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. This theory describes the cycles of each generation, the domination and the balance between them.
According to the generation cycle (also called the creation cycle):
the wood feeds the fire.
the fire, with its ashes, produces earth.
the earth contains the minerals.
the minerals nourish the water.
the water gives life to the wood.
According to the domination cycle (also called the destruction star):
the wood is nourished by the earth.
the earth retains the water.
the water puts out the fire.
the fire melts the metal.
the metal cuts the wood.
According to the balance cycle (also called compensation star):
bitter + sweet + salty, balances the bitterness.
sweet + spicy + acid, balances the sweetness.
spicy + salty + bitter, balances the spiciness.
salty + sour + sweet, balances the saltiness.
acid + bitter + spicy, balances the acidity.
The understanding of the seasons of the year at the agricultural level is very important, this is because a fifth season happens and is the transitional period between seasons lasting 18 days. This interpretation is much better suited to the viticultural reality that we face each growing season.
Spring, February 19 to May 3.
18 days
Summer, May 21 to August 5.
18 days
Autumn, August 23 to November 5.
18 days
Winter, November 23 to February 19.
18 days
The theory of the Five Elements was theorized by the Chinese sage Zou Yan, around 300 BC, and is based on nature itself. It is also called the 5 phase theory because, according to Chinese tradition, these elements are related to each other in a cyclical way, in a certain order, but without a beginning or an end. Through this, each element becomes the next. In addition, each element is corresponds to a moment in life and certain emotions. This is what traditional Chinese medicine is based on in order to heal someone, to balance elements
and emotions. By learning about each element and how it relates to nature, you can learn how to renew your own balance.
From a technical point of view, agriculture operates based on two sciences; Trophobiosis (from the Greek trophos – food and biosis – vital use), which asserts that as long as a plant has nutritional balance, meaning, as long as there is no nutrient excess or deficiency, the plant will have excellent tools to defend itself against the attacks of pests and diseases.
On the other hand, there is Allelopathy (from the Greek alleton – mutual and pathos – harm), which deals with the science studying the active principle of plants, and how these concepts generate a positive or negative effect on other living things and chiefly insects.
In summary, agriculture is considered a balance management sequence, where the first must lead to the correct management of a plant’s internal nutrition (what it obtains naturally plus how we artificially manage it by bringing in the necessary ecological microelements to the soil, which are not easily found), consciously applying our “trophobiosis theory” and subsequently, the “generation theory” must be managed, to ensure the balance between the target crop and its neighbors, the companion plants; finally and in case the rest does not work or if there is some change or pest, the “Allelopathy theory” must be used, to find the correct balance between the target crop and the insects.
THE PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECTS OF THE FIVE ELEMENTS THEORY.
In addition to the technical, agriculture is also understood from the perspective of the “five elements theory” allowing the application of different philosophical ideals, for agricultural production; the authors and the works which support the model are, in general Anthroposophy, the book “Biodynamic Agriculture”, by Rudolf Steiner, written in 1924; the Theory of the Four Elements, in Plato’s “Del Timaeus”, from 350 BC; the Theory of Humours, in “Unani Medicine”, by Claudius Galenus, in 180; botanical classification, in “Botánica Oculta”11 by Paracelsus, in 1538; the signatures theory in “Basilica Chymica” by Oswaldus
Crollius, in 1608; and, from the current era, The Four Agreements in “The Four Agreements” by Miguel Ruiz and “The 7 Laws of Nature” by Luis Ardila.
These ideals coincide by understanding the physiology of plants, because when they are balanced, they work with air, earth, water and fire (represented by the sun), to carry out their purposes: to be born, to grow, to reproduce and to die. This occurs completely naturally in forests and other areas not touched by humans.
It is important to point out that nature is made up of energy and information; on the other side, Paracelsus explains that nature is formed by force and resistance and that it is the action of the second on the first, which allows nature to generate life. For practitioners of this type of agriculture, resistance corresponds to information as it serves nature to control the processes, as Paracelsus describes.
Likewise, force corresponds to energy, which drives and maintains nature and all the beings that belong to its four Kingdoms. These concepts help to identify a specific idea: that the two qualities of consciousness are required to understand and work together with these process; these two qualities are attention and intention, which operate on energy and information, respectively.
From all of this, the statement becomes clear and clearly shows agriculture from the “five elements theory”, becoming a clear principle:
“Whenever we work with a living being in balance and carry out an operation, any action, on it, we bring that being out of balance, discovering through attention the elements that generate this imbalance; after that, we seek to restore its balance, with it being our clear intention, the need to return it to its most natural state”.
