Layers of picón (volcanic ash & rock fragments) in one of Lanzarote's dramatic vineyards
You could plant your vines in land that's flat and easy to manage. You could plant thousands of vines over huge areas or dig them into a field no bigger than a football pitch, but how good would the wines be? Would they be interesting and different from so many others?
Planting vines in volcanic soils gives a unique character to the wines. Free-draining, mineral-rich water helps produce grapes, often small in size, with ripe, concentrated flavours, high acidity and a savoury character.
Look around the world and you'll find these soils in many areas of both active and dormant volcanic activity, like the Canary Islands; Soave, Campania and Etna in Italy and Sicily; Santorini in Greece; parts of Oregon's Willamette Valley; California's Napa Valley and Lake County … The list goes on!
So, what really makes these wines so special? How do the flavours and mouthfeel ultimately inform our understanding of why we love volcanic wines?
The saltiness and savouriness that can surpass any fruity character make us salivate and want more! We could call it, in part, minerality, but we cannot just make a direct link between specific mineral salts in the soil and their corresponding supposed mineral taste. Perhaps in years to come, scientific knowledge will have evolved enough to make direct connections between the mineral composition of a soil type and a particular flavour profile. If this happens, then surely volcanic soils will be central to the research.
Volcanic soils are typically dry, rocky and infertile. This restricts the amount of organic matter available, but vine roots know what they're doing. They obtain their nutrients from the soil, not from inert rock. Plants take from the earth exactly what they need and the roots can only absorb mineral ions if these have been dissolved in the water they have access to. Indeed, regions such as Santorini and Lanzarote receive little rainfall, but deposits of volcanic material store enough water to allow vines to produce fruit. Resultant crops are low in volume, but have concentration of flavours.
However, not all volcanic soils are the same. Many have good levels of clay, which naturally stores water to feed the vines. So, iron-rich clay soils, formed by the magma flow from erupted volcanoes, or volcanic soils containing broken-down basalt, obsidian, tuff or other rocky deposits have been formed directly from the weathering of volcanic material … and the resultant wines are distinctive, varied and different from those made from grapes grown elsewhere.
We might not currently understand precisely how soil chemistry affects the taste of these volcanic delights, but it does seem to somehow, doesn't it? Yes - soil chemistry is complicated and understanding the mineral content of wines isn't completely straightforward either.
Layers of volcanic soil on Mount Etna: image taken at Graci winery
OK. How about this? Volcanic soils produce distinctive and often, high quality wines with a clear sense of place, visually striking appeal and a story worth telling. They tend to be made from indigenous grape varieties and show vibrant acidity, a defined saline character and concentrated flavours. That's a good starting point for the volcanic wines banner that can attract both on- and off-trade.
Whatever it is about volcanic wines that makes them so harmoniously and mouth-wateringly delicious, they are the result of both nature and human ingenuity. As Cole Porter wrote and Ella Fitzgerald and many before and after her purred in musical harmony: "It's delightful, it's delicious, It's delectable, it's delirious, It's dilemma, it's delimit, it's deluxe, It's de-lovely". Well … they could have been singing about volcanic wine … couldn't they?
So, there's the rationale for supporting this exciting category of wines with a dedicated webpage, hosted tastings and more. We know that there are differences between the regions and the wines themselves, but there are also clear similarities that help define the category.
Imagine a wine list with a section dedicated to volcanic regions. Imagine an aisle in a supermarket or independent store with a prominently displayed and colourful banner, directing and enthusing people to a selection of bottles they may never have considered before.
It may be tempting for many in the trade to moan about the fact that millions of UK consumers spend less than £7 per bottle on 'normal' occasions (Statista), a figure likely to change with increasingly challenging tax regimes and the popularity of low/no options. So what can we do to encourage people to look beyond their comfort zone and increase their spend, if the cost of living and prohibitive alcohol duties allow? Something new and different, that hooks people in immediately with strong visual appeal and even, perhaps, an element of the exotic and exciting? Cue volcanic wines!
Volcanic wines are loverly, as Eliza Dolittle might have sung if she'd had a chance! So, the time is right to spread the word, empower the trade and do our bit to enthuse as many people as we can about these special wines, produced under extreme viticultural conditions, and the stories behind them. Cheers!
