Soil And Wine
How does the quality of grapes affect the quality of wine?
If it rains when they're picking, what happens is that the grapes, because of the moisture and such, it will be a thinner wine and there will be a tinsy for more rot and all these are reflected in the wine itself. You need great grapes to make great wine. A great wine maker cannot make greatness unless he has the materials to work with. If he has great grapes he can muck it up. But if he has a great winemaker and he has lousy grapes there's not much he can do.
How was the concept of 'terroir' developed?
Terroir is sort of like quicksilver. You go to grab it and it slips through your fingers. This is something that's magical. Terroir has to do with what happened in the vintage. It has to do with if you're on the hill, if you're, in a little valley. It has to do, if it's on flat land, your exposure. Terroir has to do with, when the sun is shining, how it affects the grape vine. How does the wind have to do, where's the location. If you looked on a geographical map, and you'd say, "Well, this is right next door to this, it should be just as good." If there's a little hill, if there's a little gully, all these things have factors that change what has to happen. Next, the terroir, without getting very technical, you have topsoil. The topsoil may only be four to six inches deep. And with that there is grass that is growing, maybe there's the lack of grass. All these have a factor. From the six inches down to the next eighteen inches there's something else that is happening. After the topsoil you get a different composition of the soil.
How do soil and geography affect wine?
Two of the greatest vineyard in the world Two of the greatest vineyard in the world Laffite Rothschild and Domain de la Romanee Conti. Dirt is dirt, but dirt isn't dirt, this is Towa - one of the most influencing factors is not just the soil itself, but as you see here at Laffite, throughout the property are large stones, and the heat of the sun hitting that throughout the day, creates warmth at night as it cools down and reflects back up. At Romanee Conti we have a different situation, we have small pebbles and we have a claylike situation. Where the timbales have to fight but at the very same time are extracting a different character. There are richness and you always taste it in the wine. There is something that is akin to trying to make gold but has make something precious than gold at Romanee Conti. A smell of aroma that emblazes into the mind, as it goes through this claylike substance and this granulated gravel something happens, with not the vines, the vines have tendrils with all these little hairs that bring it back. What is reflected in the ground is reflected in the plant, also reflected in the taste of the wine. With Laffite we have these stones and also because its fighting you have this dark berry current situation, if I bring out Magors' soil it's far more sandy – what grows very well in sand? Strawberries. If you pick up a glass of wine from the area of Margo and you smell, you will always detect this frazz, this strawberry quality, it's because of the soil and because of the exposure. All of these little factors that come into it, but what's in these two different situations that visually you can see, that is how the wine reflects its self. If I were to teach you in a class, or as I became the Grandmaster of Wine in Bordeaux, all of this is not special requirements that you hit a pole and all of a sudden you can taste incredibly – it's tricks, it's being able to recognize what different areas throw off character and you can identify it. It's like playing Chess versus Checkers – you start to learn multiple moves, multiple things that are going on. But I want to keep it simple, but the more you want to learn about this, the more satisfying it becomes because every time you and you get that quality reflects a little bit more of the gravel situation that happens, sort of in Laffite, you say “Wow, that comes from…” All of these is fundamentally tricks in knowing what to look for. and Romance Conti. Dirt is dirt, but dirt isn't dirt, one of the most influencing factors is not just the so it itself, but as you see here at the place, Laffite is throughout the property or large stones, and the heat of the sun hitting that throughout the day, create warmth at night as it cools down and reflects back up. At Romanec Conti we have a different situation, we have small pebbles and we have a claylike situation. Where the timbers have to fight but at the very same time are extracting a different character. There are richness and you always taste it in the wine. There is something that is akin to trying to make gold but has make something precious than gold. A smell of aroma that embleds in the mind, as it goes through this claylike substance and it granulate. What is reflected in the ground is reflected in the plant, also reflected in the taste of the wine. All of these is formidable. The thing is know what to look for.
What is the difference between new vines and old vines?
The older the grape vine the more it offers a reflection, it has dug down into the earth, a thirty year old vine versus a six year old vine with tendrils, being the vine that has gone down and searched for water and the minerals that are down there. It will offer something that has greater intensity. A young vine will be more subject to; in its youth, of pulling up more water in foliage and not offering the intensity. The older the vine gets the less it produces but it is sort of sitting down with a wise old author who does not have to shout at you. He tells you his wisdom, his experience in that you all of a sudden pick up the glass, it's almost like you're listening, it doesn't have to jump out and scream at you, this is not a rock concert this is almost like Yo-Yo playing his cello.
