The geological controls in Coonawarra

Abstract

The special feature of the Coonawarra district for the production of quality wines is not the famous Terra Rossa but the underlying limestone. This is an unusual solution-breccia with ideal drainage for holding and providing moisture to the vines.

Terroir: the effect of the physical environment on vine growth, grape ripening and wine sensory attributes

“…For instance, Chablis wines are often associated with 'flinty' characters, but it is difficult to imagine how a material as insoluble in groundwater as flint could contribute to the flavour of any wine, let alone what the flavour of anything so hard and insoluble could be (Huggett, 2006). The same author advances that only rarely, as in the Coonawarra (Australia) and the Douro (Portugal), the geological bedrock is an important factor in wine quality (Hancock and Huggett, 2004;Huggett, 2006). High-quality wines can be produced on a diversity of geological outcrops: schists (Porto, Mosel), chalk, limestone, marl or sandstone containing different amounts of active calcium carbonate (Champagne, Bourgueil, Chinon, Chablis, Saint-Emilion, Burgundy, Jerez, Rioja, Barolo, Barbaresco, Chianti, Marsala, Rheingau etc.…”

Spatial Pedological Mapping Using a Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer at the Tallavera Grove Vineyard, Hunter Valley

“…The soil is rich in soluble oxides of the elements common in rocks, namely those of Fe, Al and Ti. Because the Terra Rossa is an oxic environment, the iron oxide formed is usually hematite (Fe2O3) which has a red colour (Hancock and Huggett 2006;Mee et al, 2004). The limestone is a sedimentary rock formed by precipitation from solution or form of detrital 9.…”

The Role of Vineyard Geology in Wine Typicity

“…Ashenfelder and Storchman (2001) observed how the depth to the bedrock in the Mosel vineyards, Germany, becomes an important parameter where the overlying soils give poor storage. Hancock and Huggett (2004) argued that vines in the Coonawarra district of Australia excel not because of the much-vaunted surficial terra rossa but because of the hydrogeological properties of an unusual breccia in the underlying limestone. In the belief that bedrock-penetrating roots are beneficial, some new vineyards in Bandol, France, have been excavated deeply and substantial quantities of soil removed, in order to prompt the vine roots to grow into bedrock (White, 2003).…”