A distinctive terroir

We often talk about “terroir” and its special effect on wine. And some of the most successful subsets of soil types to affect terroir benefit from the addition of volcanic detritus. You can find this characteristic in regions of the world that have (or in some cases had) volcanic activity. In the long term, the positive effects of volcanism on soil can outweigh the less pleasant immediate impact on people.

The volcanic activity of Pacific “Ring of Fire”, for example, has shaped the soil types of many winegrowing countries. New Zealand is but one of these countries that suffer from tectonic plate collisions (and resulting earthquakes), but create great soil for wine grapes. Other countries influenced by this volcanic activity are Chile, Peru, and the Pacific coast of Central America. The Ring has a profound effect on the Mexican wine regions of Baja California—not to forget the wine regions of California from Santa Barbara to the top of Napa Valley. Farther north in Oregon and Washington, the wine growing regions of the Willamette and Columbia River valleys also benefit from a volcanic soil.

The beneficial influence of volcanic activity on wine is well-documented in the European countries of Italy, Greece and the regions around the Black Sea. Italy, in particular, has the Apennine mountains—which run along a fault line containing extinct and active volcanoes, including Stromboli and Mount Etna.

This is not to deny the dire consequences on today’s society when a volcano erupts. If you live in the shadow of an active volcano, as do many Sicilians, you come to appreciate the raw power of an eruption. And you can be affected even if you don’t live near the blast. When a volcano erupted in Iceland some years back, air traffic between North America and Europe was interrupted due to the fear that volcanic ash would cause fatal damage to a modern jet engine.

The beneficial effects of a volcanic eruption are not immediate. The minerals that are expelled from deep within the Earth’s mantle require some time to break down and mix with the existing soil. It depends on the longevity and force of the eruption. But, once blended in the soil, these minerals have a profound influence on grape growing, and these volcanic soils are eagerly sought out by grape growers for their effect on the vines.

The County, on the other hand, has a very distinctive terroir influenced by fractured limestone that gives a unique quality to the wines from here. But this basic limestone building block is only part of the different soil types that influence the wines of Prince Edward County.