It’s in the soil

One of the great radio programs, when I was growing up in the late 1950s, was The Archers. Similar to the early soaps in the United States, it had a continuing daily story line, with one character, a Dorset farmer, repeating the line “the answer lies in the soil”. Farmers know the importance of soil, whether they practice farming in rotation, or planting the “three sisters” (squash, corn, and beans) as learned from Native Americans. All crops are influenced by differing soil types— especially grapes.

While it’s not difficult to identify at least 36 types of soil, they can be more manageably distilled into five primary groups:

• Prince Edward County shares a common soil group with Champagne, Chablis, Burgundy, Loire and Languedoc known as “kimmeridgian” soil that is composed of limestone, clay and fossilized shells. Pick up some pieces of local limestone and you will see the imprint of the fossilized shells.

• The sandy soil group of the Graves region of Bordeaux produces fine wines, low in tannins and chock-a-block in aromatics.

• The clay soils of the Duero basin in Spain cool the vines in their hot climate, allowing production of big wines.

• The loam soils of the Napa and Sonoma valleys are a mix of shale, sandstone and alluvial— kissed with a dusting of volcanic ash. Matched with the ideal climate, they create a perfect environment to produce sublime wines.

• A little further up the coast, in Washington State on the Columbia River, silt-based soils (formed after the Ice Age) create a rounder wines.

Keep in mind that, along with these major groupings, any combination of soil subtypes will create a unique terroir that, combined with a local climate, will allow grapevines to extract unique chemical compounds that will result in a distinct minerality in the wine.

Like all crops (and indeed humans), grapevines need water, sunshine and food (in the form of the minerals in the soil) to grow. If it were not for the different soil types, all wine would taste the same.

THIS WEEK’S PICK
French Champagne enjoys an enviable cachet, but New World (and even some Old World) wineries are challenging that niche with quality and price point. Their position as king of the sparkling wine is becoming more and more precarious.

Prince Edward County has developed a rock solid reputation for fine sparkling wines. Thanks to the expertise of Frédéric at Huff Estates, Jonas at Hinterland, Caroline and Maggie at The Grange, Vita at By Chadseys Cairns—not to forget the sparkling wines offered by Casa Dea, Rosehall Run and Lighthall wineries—we now have a well-deserved reputation as a wine region whose sparkling wine stands up to the best, and at a reasonable price. These wines make great Christmas gifts, or provide a wonderful way to welcome family and friends to Christmas festivities.