Soils

Question 1

Alluvial ?

Answer 1

Fertile soil that has been transported down a slope, usually by a river or stream.

Gravel
Sand
Silt

Napa valley + foot of Mayacamas

Question 2

Basalt ?

Answer 2

Cooled lava from volcanic rock (Igneous)

Calcium
Iron
Magnesium

Willamette Valley

Question 3

Calcareous ?

Answer 3

Alkaline soil

Calcium
Magnesium carbonate

Considered ‘cool’, they retain water and delay ripening, thereby leading to more acidic wines

Question 4

Chalk ?

Answer 4

• Sedimentary

Very porous, soft limestone soil that vine roots can easily penetrate. A classic soil in Champagne.

Question 5

Clay ?

Answer 5

• Sedimentary
• has good water retention ability but poor drainage. Often very ‘cool’ and high in acidity.

Right bank bordeaux

Question 6

Flint ?

Answer 6

• Sedimentary

Siliceous stone (sedimentary rocks that contain silica from silica-secreting organisms such as diatoms and some types of sea sponges) that reflects sun and heat well.

Pouilly-Fumé

Question 7

Galestro ?

Answer 7

• Metamorphic

Schist-based soil found in the Tuscany region of Italy.

Question 8

Gneiss ?

Answer 8

• Metamorphic

Coarse grained form of granite

Question 9

Granite ?

Answer 9

• Igneous

Hard, mineral-rich soil that is composed of 40% to 60% quartz. The soil warms quickly and retains heat well. Thus, granite soils are ideal with acidic grapes like gamay.

Beaujolais, Cornas

Question 10

Gravel ?

Answer 10

Soil that is loose and pebbly and has good drainage and poor fertility. Vines planted in this type of soil must penetrate deeply to find nutrients in the subsoil.

Graves and Sauternes

Question 11

Greywacke ?

Answer 11

• Sedimentary
• formed by rivers depositing quartz, mudstone, and feldspar.

Germany, New Zealand, South Africa

Question 12

Hardpan ?

Answer 12

Dense layer of clay or other material that is impermeable to water.

Question 13

Limestone ?

Answer 13

• Sedimentary

Wide range of sedimentary-based soils consisting of calcium carbonates, many of which are formed from the skeletal fragments of marine organisms. Limestone is consistently alkaline and is generally planted with grapes of high acidity levels.

Burgundy, Champagne, Loire

Question 14

Llicorella ?

Answer 14

• Metamorphic

Mix of slate and quartz that is very porous and drains well.

Priorat

Question 15

Loam ?

Answer 15

• Sedimentary
• Warm, soft, fertile soil composed of roughly equal amounts of silt, sand and clay. Typically too fertile for high-quality wines.
• Particles measuring around 2mm or so across are sand, finer ones are called silt, and the very finest clay. A mixture of all three is termed loam.

Question 16

Loess ?

Answer 16

• Sedimentary

Very fine, silt-based soil composed of wind-borne sediment that is typically angular and decalcified. The soil has good water retention and warming properties

Top Austrian, Washington state vineyards

Question 17

Marl ?

Answer 17

• Sedimentary

Calcareous clay-based soil that is ‘cool’ and thus delays ripening, resulting in wines with prominent acidity. Marl is typically deep and lacking in stone fragments.

Piedmont

Question 18

Quartz ?

Answer 18

• Igneous

Common in sand and silt-based soils
The high pH of quartz can reduce the acidity of the resulting wines. But quartz also stores heat, so it can increase ripening of the grapes.

Lower Nahe

Question 19

Sand ?

Answer 19

• Sedimentary

Warm, airy soil composed of tiny partucles of weathered rocks. Drains well but not good retention.

No phylloxera

Santa Barbara

Question 20

Schist ?

Answer 20

• Metamorphic

Laminated, crystalline rock-based soil that retains heat well and is rich in magnesium and potassium, but poor in organic nutrients and nitrogen.

Alsace Andlau region (upper slopes)

Question 21

Shale ?

Answer 21

• Sedimentary

Fine-grain sedimentary-based formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite.

Shale is characterized by its tendency to split into thin layers (laminae) less than one centimeter in thickness. This property is called fissility.

Shale is the most common sedimentary rock

Moderately fertile and retains heat well.

Finger Lakes

Question 22

Silex ?

Answer 22

• Flint and sand-based soil type, found primarily in Loire valley, formed by a mix of clay, limestone and silica.
• The word silex also appears in wine writings in English although it is simply the French word for flint.

Question 23

Silt ?

Answer 23

Fine-grained deposit that offer good water retention but poor drainage. More fertile than sand.

Question 24

Slate ?

Answer 24

• Metamorphic
• platelike rock formed when shale, clay, or silt-stone is subjected to pressure deep within the earth.

Soil retain heat well and warms up relatively quickly.

Mosel, Germany

Question 25

Terra Rossa ?

Answer 25

Sedimentary soil, known as ‘red earth’, formed after carbonates have been leached out of limestone. The breakdown leaves behind iron deposits that oxidize and turn the soil a rustic red color.

Coonawara

Question 26

Tufa ?

Answer 26

• Igneous and/or Sedimentary

Highly friable calcareous soil created from exploding volcanic rocks flung into the air.

Loire valley

Question 27

Volcanic ?

Answer 27

• Igneous = lava-based volcanic soil is the product of molten lava flows from a volcano. Ninety percent of lava-based soil is basalt.
• Sedimentary = Vent-based volcanis soil is formed from rock material or molten globules that have been ejected at high velocity into the air and then have cooled before settling to the earth (such as tufa).

Question 28

Name an example of igneous rock.

Answer 28

• Granite and Basalt, volcanic lava flow.
• Igneous rocks are solidified by melt. Colling and solidification of magma. They are composed of tight cells interlocking and lack of layering, fossils, etc.
• Igneous = lava flows = basalt = fertile soils
• Intrusive Igneous = melted lava that cools before reaching surface = pockets of granite

Question 29

Name an example of Metamorphic rock.

Answer 29

• Schist, Slate, Marble, Gneiss
• Metamorphic rocks are sedimentary or igneous rocks that are formed by heat and pressure. (For example, a sedimentary mass travels inward earth, as it goes deep, it melts with other sediments accumulating above it. Ions rearrangements occur and new minerals are formed. It becomes a Metamorphic rock.)

Question 30

Name an example of Sedimentary rock.

Answer 30

• Limestone, marl, clay, chalk, shale, sandstone, etc.
• A sedimentary rock is formed by multiple sediments that have been transported by wind (eolian) or by water (alluvial and marine). Those sediments bond in a single mass and become a sedimentary rock. The type of soil formed depends on its composition and how tight are the bondings.