I know some folks won’t believe me when I say, “You can taste the dirt in the wine”. You can. The smells in a vineyard are ever present in a wine.
Let’s take Cabernet Sauvignon for example. There are two very distinct styles of CS in Napa Valley.
There’s something called “Rutherford Dust”. Take a look at where it is, protected from the ocean winds and currents and much of it is a valley surrounded by mountains. It has gravel, sand and loam soils with excellent percolation. Yet, the loam in the soil allows it to retain more moisture in the soil than the mountainous AVA’s (American Viticulture Appellations) of Howell Mountain, Spring Mountain, Mt Veeder and Atlas Peak. The soil is extremely aromatic. The produced is fruit forward of blueberries and blackberries but there’s something else. It smells like an “Old Lady’s Purse”. If you read about wine profiles, that descriptor comes up from time to time. It smells dusty with a hint of floral rose perfume and a hint of nutmeg spice. It’s a distinct smell that I can pick out in every bottle of Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon. The mountainous AVA’s such as Howell Mountain, Diamond Mountain, Spring Mountain, Mt Veeder and Atlas Peak all have more volcanic rock. The water runs off without staying in the soil. Because of less water staying in contact with roots, the vines produce less fruit. Additionally, there’s a tar note. I personally can’t pick out the difference between Howell Mountain and Atlas Peak. But those wines are heavy and deeply colored bluish-purple. They need to rest for years before they are drinkable. Similarly, are Diamond Mountain, Spring Mountain and Mt Veeder. Yet those regions have more salinity, and a gravel note on the palate. The blackberry and blueberry notes are present in most Cabernet Sauvignons. But the uniqueness of the dirt in each exact appellation, creates a uniqueness in the wines from that appellation.
Ventura and L.A. County are a lot hotter than these regions. Some people describe the wines of Central Coast and SoCal as fruit bombs. They lose some of that acidity and tannin and gain alcohol and body. Which sometimes, can make the wines flabby and unbalanced.
However, in choosing a location for a vineyard, choosing land with clay and alluvial soil with Mediterranean climate and fog, will help maintain acidity and structure. Smell a wet rock. In alluvial soil, that smell gets into the wine. Scientifically, it doesn’t make sense. There’s no equation that explains how that smell gets into the wine. But it does. Sure as the Earth spins around the Sun, the smells in the dirt get into the wine. When you smell that wet rock and smell the wine from where the rock was taken, and you’ll smell for yourself. It might not be obvious in work horse grapes that are meant to be mass manufactured and mass consumed. But in vineyards wherein the yield is controlled and the soils have a balanced pH and low rainfall with high percolation, the grapes are truly expressive of the dirt that the roots are in.
The dirt in Ventura County is similar to Rutherford. It has that clay with alluvial soil. I love the smell of Rutherford Dust. Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys a higher elevation. But Cabernet Franc enjoys more coastal elevations. The soil matters. The dirt in Ventura, California in valleys mimics the dirt of one of the greatest appellations in the world, Rutherford AVA. Choosing a site with a hillside so that there are vines with a lower yield but sharper tannins and acidity and then blending it with the valley grapes that are rounder and softer makes the perfect wine.
