“The Fault, Dear Brutus, is not in our stars…”
Although William Shakespeare is not known as an oenophile, he was more prophetic than he imagined in his somewhat famous line from Julius Caesar. Yes, the fault is not in our stars.
The fault can be in our wine as many learned last month during the excellent Fault Workshop put on by OCWS members Don and Mary Ann Mayer. However, the fault can also be in our terroir.
Two articles, one by Natasha Geiling in Smithsonian Magazine (August 2014) titled “Why Earthquakes Make Napa Wine Taste So Good,” and the other by Elin McCoy in Decanter China magazine (July 2017) titled “Seismic shifts: Wines on fault lines,” delve into the effects of our shifting California soils on the vineyards we visit and the wines we drink.
But shifting soils and quaking barrel rooms are not unique to our home state, and neither is planting vineyards and building wineries on fault lines. You can find this in Oregon, and farther afield the same is true in Eastern France, New Zealand, Australia and Italy.
Is there a perceived benefit that overrides the associated risks? Yes, it’s the soil’s diversity—soil composed of limestone, sedimentary rocks, volcanic rocks and pieces of ancient sea floor millions of years old that has resulted from the formation of fault zones and the faults’ subsequent activity.
This mixture of soils is believed to add to a wine’s aroma and taste complexity. No scientific data corroborates this belief but some winemakers contend that some of the world’s best vineyards are planted near fault zones.
- Which California wine region, shaped by two monumental geological events, 40 million and 30 million years ago, has soil diversity of over 100 variations (equal to one half of the world’s soil orders)? These soil variations enable the growth of a wide diversity of grape varietals.
- Napa
- Mendocino
- Sonoma
- How many distinct American Viticultural Areas (AVA) each unique due to its soil and climate does Napa Valley have?
- 12
- 14
- 16
- In which Rhone Valley region did the Nimes fault push up limestone slabs, which are rare in the Rhone Valley, to high elevations making terraces where the best Grenache wines come from?
- Rasteau
- Vacqueyras
- Gigondas
- In which Southern Oregon AVA is the Abacela Winery’s The Fault Line Vineyard (named for the fault that runs through it)? This vineyard has rocks that are 20 million years old on one side of the fault and rocks that are over 200 million years old on the other side.
- Rogue Valley
- Umpqua Valley
- Applegate Valley
- What eastern French wine region lays between two major parallel faults and is crisscrossed by many smaller faults providing a broad soil diversity in a compact area, which may be the reason for the region’s 51 Grand Crus including the well-know Rangen de Thann Grand Cru Vineyard?
- Alsace
- Jura
- Savoie
So don’t get the shakes peering at fault lines, it’s not a tragedy. And remember, it’s no fault of your own if you just find a wine you like and enjoy it. Cheers!
— CL Keedy, Wine Education Committee
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- a
- c
- c
- b
- a