Welcome to #SciFri! This week, our musings on Portlandian Limestone.... #TheDirt: So why is Portlandian limestone (deposited in the Portlandian age, 146-142 million years ago) considered the inferior little brother of Kimmeridgian limestone when it comes to wine?? For rock talk, we always consult our Master Geologist, Brenna Quigley. “Portlandian (left) rocks are harder than Kimmeridgian (right) stones, and form the steep, resistant ridges of the plateaus above Chablis. Portlandian rocks are described as shattering due to frost (water seeps into cracks, freezes and expands, breaking the rock), creating angular gravels that cover the Kimmeridgian slopes. Kimmeridgian stones are softer and easy to work. They also have a higher water holding capacity so the vines get just enough of what they need. “It is also important to note that the change from Kimmeridgian to Portlandian is a very transitional one, and can occur over a distance of several meters. Even geologists cannot always agree on clear boundaries between the two--hence some of the arguments over what counts as true Chablis, …

If we were posted up at the local wine bar together and I turned to you and said, “Are you familiar with Tegernseerhof, Weszeli, and Malat?” you might think I was talking about some art-rock group from the 1970s, or perhaps a Soviet agitprop theater troupe. Well, Tegernseerhof, Weszeli, and Malat are, indeed, from the East, just not that far. They are three—surprise!—wine estates, and they’re from Austria. But not just anywhere in Austria. They hail, respectively, from the Wachau, Kamptal, and Kremstal, the three crucial regions we are exploring this month. And, if that alone wasn’t enough to incite you to pound your hands on the armrests and demand an encore, all three Rieslings are from the incredible vintage of 2013! Welcome to the July Inside Source Club! You know Grüner Veltliner, Austria’s signature grape. We love it too, but Riesling isn’t considered by many wine experts the greatest of white wine grape in the world for no reason. Even in Grüner country, Riesling manages to soar higher, …