A lot goes into making a delightful wine-colored . The soil , topography , weather , pruning , irrigation , time of harvest , tannic acid contentedness , lees message , and ferment temperature all have a manus in making a secure spate of wine-coloured — and one trip-up can make a crop go bad . It ’s no surprise , then , that it ’s heavy to nail on the nose what earn wine-coloured from Napa Valley generally tasty than wine from , say , Kentucky . But two components are key : soil and clime .
grind around your back yard , and you ’ll see that the dirt can be patchy . Some areas have silklike surface soil . Others are awfully rocky . If you had a chemistry outfit , you ’d also notice that the pH , calcium , and iron contents can depart wildly , too . All of this affects how grapes produce . The Ca , iron , and pH all influence photosynthesis . Meanwhile , ground back up the roots and controls how well pee drain , which determines how much nutrient and mineral the grapevine soaks up .
Soil does n’t control the wine ’s predilection , though . Research shows there ’s no link between the mineral content of the grapes and the mineral content of the grease . Rather , dirt quality influences the health of the grapes . In the man ’s best vino regions , the territory ’s capability to hold pee is just right . That imply a better chance of growing lineament grapes .
It does n’t stop there . Rain and temperature can really make or break a wine . Even in position with astonishing soil , a year of unearthly weather can ferment a crop with amazing potential literally into biting disappointment . Consider the Bordeaux area of France — the 1990 vintage is fantastical , but the 1991 batch is blue . That ’s because , in just one April night , frost wiped out half the grapeshot in 1991 , a personnel casualty of $ 715 million . ( Crafty viticulturalists nearby carry through their grapes by fly an air - warm eggbeater over the vineyards . )
The best wine regions have reproducible climates . saltation is affectionate with easy rain . summertime is red-hot , cloudless , and relatively dry . fall is more like an Native American summertime , and sparse rain becomes the slate to a proficient harvest .
