The Importance of Soil

One of my Zinfandel grape growers, Ray Teldeschi has always told me that its his Dry Creek soil that makes the grapes; he often says, "You can taste the soil". A recent post on the West Coast Wine Network discusses how soil can impact the flavor of the wine.

Peter Cargasacchi posts,

....Why is La Tach, La Tach, why is Romanee Conti, Romanee Conti? There are volumes of discussion here, starting with cation exchange abilities of soils, and the density of clay particles and the interplay of those particles to hold nutrients and exchange them with roots hairs. Soils are the key and impart numerous attributes to the grapes.

Aside from cation exchange and the ability of clay particles to hold micro nutrients, just think about the difference in water holding capacity between sand and clay soils.

Consider the impacts of that in dry farmed vs. irrigated.

Soils are the key.

Give me clay and the ability to control the water any day.

Bruce L. responds, urging not to forget heat/sun retention and reflection

...different soils reflect heat and sun differently, and different soils retain heat differently. If you imagine two parts of a vineyard side-by-side, with everything the same except the topsoil, you could easily imagine the grapes coming out differently in a soil that quickly dissipates heat versus a soil that retains heat for a longer period of time.

I did some researching using Google's Image Search on vineyard soils. Sonoma Cutrer has a great Soil Profiles section. These images are 3 soil cross sections from their different vineyards.