Soils

Question 1

Flint

Answer 1

• Tough siliceous stone
• Sedimentary rocks contain silica
  Examples: Pouilly-Fume

Question 2

Galestro

Answer 2

Schist-based
Found in Tuscany

Question 3

Gneiss

Answer 3

Coarse-grained form of granite

Question 4

Granite

Answer 4

• Hard igneous rock
• Tightly interlocking minerals like quartz
• Retains heat
• Ideal for acidic grapes

Examples: Beaujolais, Cornas in Northern Rhone

Question 5

Gravel

Answer 5

• Loose pebbles
• Good drainage
• Poor fertility
  Examples: Graves

Question 6

Clay

Answer 6

• Extremely fine particles of sedimentary rock
• Retains water, good for drought-prone areas
• “Cool” and mitigates quick ripening
  Example: Right Bank of Bordeaux (St-Emilion & Pomerol)

Question 7

Alluvial Soil

Answer 7

• Transported from a mountain or hilltop down a slope
• “Alluvial fan” of sediments including gravel, sand, silt
  Examples: Western side of Napa Valley

Question 8

Basalt

Answer 8

• Cooled lava
• High in calcium, iron, magnesium
  Examples: Willamette Valley

Question 9

Calcareous Soil

Answer 9

• high levels of calcium & magnesium carbonate
• “Cool” (retain water and delay ripening)
• More acidic wines
  Limestone, chalk, and marl!!

Question 10

Marl

Answer 10

• Calcareous
• Deep and lacking in stone fragments
  Examples: Piedmont and Champagne

Question 11

Quartz

Answer 11

• Hard, crystalline
• Does not easily dissolve or weather
• Found in many sand and silt soils
• Stores heat and helps with ripening

Question 12

Sand

Answer 12

• Warm, airy soil
• Larger than silt
• Phylloxera does not thrive
• Drains well (sometimes too well)
  Examples: Santa Barbara

Question 13

Schist

Answer 13

• Laminated, foliated rock-based soil
• Like slate
• Does not break easily
  Example: Portugal’s Douro Valley

Question 14

Sandstone

Answer 14

• Sedimentary
• Particles of quartz, feldspar, rock

Question 15

Shale

Answer 15

• Fine-grain and crumbly sedimentary rock
• Can have different compositions
• Retains heat
• Moderately fertile
  Examples: NY Finger lakes

Question 16

Silex

Answer 16

• Flint made from microcrystalline quartz
  Example: Loire Valley

Question 17

Silt

Answer 17

• Fine-grained
• Good water retention, poor drainage

Question 18

Slate

Answer 18

• Metamorphic rock
• Plate like
• Retains heat
  Example: Mosel

Question 19

Terra Rossa

Answer 19

• Sedimentary soil
• “Red Earth”
  Examples: Mediterranean and Coonawarra, AUS

Question 20

Volcanic Soil

Answer 20

• Derived from volcanic activities
  —-either rock materials ejected into air and then cooled while falling
  —-or lava-based soil that flowed from a volcano
• 90% of this soil is Basalt

Question 21

Greywackle

Answer 21

• Sedimentary soil formed by rivers depositing quartz, mudstone, feldspar
  Examples: Germany, NZ, SA

Question 22

Limestone

Answer 22

• Sedimentary
• Made of calcium carbonates
• Alkaline
• Good for cool climates with high acid grapes
  Examples: Burgundy, Champagne, Loire Valley

Question 23

Llicorella

Answer 23

• Blackish slate/schist
• Drains well
  Example: Priorat, Spain

Question 24

Loam

Answer 24

• Warm, soft, fertile
• Silt/Sand/clay
• Too fertile for high-quality wines (no complexity/struggle)

Question 25

Loess

Answer 25

• Fine, silt-based
• Good water retention
• Warms well
  Example: Austria and Washington State