A Toast from a Volcano for the New Year…It’s hard to find “good news” assoc

A Toast from a Volcano for the New Year…It’s hard to find “good news” associated with the destruction of one of the earth’s most promising ancient civilizations, but the Santorini volcano that devastated the Minoans in ~1600 BCE also bequeathed us of one of the world’s exceptional terroirs (the environment of soil and climate essential for viticulture).Unlike human populations, wine soils do nothing but benefit from the contribution of volcanoes.For a great wine, soil needs a texture that is friable without being sticky – grapevines detest (as Tim Dixon of Miami University states) “wet feet.” The gentle slopes of volcanic flows aid natural drainage through soils of rubbly fragments of lava and tuff with a loose texture supporting root growth. Within the rubble are vesicular-rich lavas and perlite that retain enough moisture for nurturing without drowning those roots. Santorini volcanic soils are devoid of clay minerals, and it is said that these make them immune to phylloxera, a nasty microscopic bug that destroyed all the native wine stocks of Europe ~100 years ago. Santorini vines survived the phylloxera epidemic, and some producing rootstocks are thought to be hundreds of years in age.Volcanic sources provide great soil nutrients for vineyards. Lavas are generally basic, neither too alkalic nor acidic; elsewhere in the world carbonate rocks (ie limestone) must be added to soils to reduce their acidity. Obsidian and metastable volcanic minerals breaks down at relatively rapid geologic rates (say on decades to century scale) to release the richness of iron and magnesium, the relatively rare phosphorous and potassium, a touch of sulfur, a hint of zinc – nutrients that are essential for world-class wine.Soil colors, generally dark grey, black, or brown on Santorini, absorb sunlight, enhancing the breakdown of rocks and releasing nutrients into the waters, retaining heat in the cooler months. In the past here on The Earth Story, we’ve extolled the virtues of the terroir essential for champagne (goo.gl/SL06Ob), but as an exercise for the reader we’re leaving it to you to taste and compare: try a fine champagne to toast in the New Year, then taste some of the brilliant wines of Santorini to establish that geological connection between “just plain wine” and the wine of the gods.Στην υγεία σου!Annie RImage: Young vines in Santorini. Photo by Antonios Kapetanios Read also:http://www.hinsdalecellars.com/vintelligence/when-life-gives-you-volcanoes-make-wine-2/http://www.vinetowinecircle.com/en/terroir-2/the-influence-of-soil-on-wine-quality/http://cascademineralsnw.com/blog/2013/01/fine-wine-starts-with-mineral-rich-volcanic-soil/ -- source link

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