Biodynamics. It sounds a bit like some new fitness gizmo a C-list celebrity might hawk on an infomercial, don’t you think? But biodynamics is a concept that’s been around since the 1920s. And instead of instant weight loss and six-pack abs, it focuses on the overall fitness of a vineyard.

With its biological, earth-friendly focus, this form of agriculture is similar in many ways to sustainable and organic farming. It protects its own ecosystems. It relies on solely on organic materials for enriching the soil, and rejects the use of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and anything else that’s bad for people and the planet.

Hmmm. Can you finally, in all good conscience, call your shimmering glass of ruby red Merlot a health drink? Well, maybe. Especially if you’re interested in spiritual health. Based on the principles laid out by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner in 1924, biodynamics centers on caring for a farm or a vineyard as its own unique, self-contained spiritually sound eco-system. Biodynamic growers believe that this infuses the ultimate expression of the land in their wines.

“We always had orchards, and other crops, and animals on our land. We were biodynamic before we knew what that meant,” says Jim Fetzer, member of the legendary Fetzer wine family and current owner of Cea^-go Vinegarden, a certified organic and biodynamic winery located in Lake County, California. The biodynamic processes appeal to Fetzer as an extension of the methods his family used while running their eponymous family winery.