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...[ read more ]
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....[ read more ]
It's #SciFri! This week, copper treatments in European vineyards (it's a long one, so be sure to read the conclusion in the comments!).... In the US and most of the New World, spraying copper sulfate is not a required #vineyard treatment. In Europe it is, and it's used during the vegetative growth cycle in rainy periods to combat Downy Mildew,...[ read more ]
It's #SciFri! This week, a little #RockTalk about Kimmeridgian.... Why do many famous French rock types sound like the names of mansions on Downton Abbey?? In wine, we often hear rocks in France described with English names: Kimmeridgian, Portlandian, Devonian. This is simply because much of the early work on geologic time was done by geologists in England, and they...[ read more ]
The Source is the first importing company (we know of) and perhaps the only one to have a staff geologist, Brenna Quigley. And now she’s off to Burgundy to put in a month of scratching and digging and surveying (or whatever geologists do) with the Wasserman family, who are bringing her over to get a worm’s eye view of some of...[ read more ]
On our way back down to Leo’s improvised shelter, Andrea and I debated if we had time to taste Leo’s wines because we had to drive back to Santiago. It was past five and what would normally take five hours to drive in any normal car would take us seven. We knew we’d have to take it easy out of...[ read more ]
Welcome to the June club, which features three wines from three producers. The wines have many differences, but, more crucially, they have a few things in common. This month’s exploration is perhaps a bit less technical than in past clubs, but it’s no less interesting. Best of all, the wines are delightful. Actually, “delightful” may be too limiting, perhaps depriving...[ read more ]
“You need to find the proper mother for your wines… and a vineyard’s geology is the number one consideration,” Pedro said, as we drove towards his vineyards in Guarilihue. What was true 450 years ago when the Spanish Conquistadors settled in Concepcion is still true today. They recognized that Itata was a perfect mother for their vineyards because of the soil...[ read more ]
The May edition of the Inside Source Club, featured bottles from one of our true heroes of wine, Arnaud Lambert. It’s difficult to write about Arnaud without eliciting chuckles, because after just a few words one begins to sound ridiculous. He’s young. He’s talented. He’s hardworking. Thoughtful. Focused. Studious. Committed. Charming. You get the picture. Seriously, the guy is a...[ read more ]
Pedro held out a slab of granite that had decomposed almost completely into some kind of dense mudstone. Each mineral crystal was in place as if it were still solid rock. It was amazing; the soil was completely eroded in place. The rock bent a little before breaking with very little effort. It was a fragile soil that was...[ read more ]
