My guest this week is Alex Maltman with his new book form Acadamie du Vin, “Taste the Limstone, Smell the Slate” A gteologist wanders through the world of wine.
Terroir is everything in modern wine appreciation. Geologist and professor, Alex Maltman looks at the rocks that make up key wine regions and what difference they make.
“Rocks and soils haunt our thinking about wine. We see links, sniff origins, taste connections, digest differences. Is this cause and effect — or fantasy? Alex Maltman is ghostbuster-in-chief. This wide-ranging and clearly reasoned book shines a torch through the cobwebs.” — Andrew Jefford
Burgundy thrives on the limestone remnants of a warm, shallow sea while Sancerre and Pouilly wrap their roots around flint. The finest Pomerols bloom in a ‘button’ of blue clay, and Beaujolais famously begins life in granite. Cabernet Sauvignon loves just about any sandstone and Champagne gets on gloriously with chalk. But is the secret to great port really schist? Alex Maltman, Emeritus Professor of earth sciences at Aberystwyth University, finds himself between a rock and a vineyard place as he explains how a wine’s flavors relate to the geology at foot, and discovers that there is more to ‘minerality’ than mud, rocks and the earth’s stark materials…
Terroir is as intrinsic to the quality of a wine as the grapes it comes from or the intentions of the wine maker. This beautifully produced and illustrated book looks at the many factors that influence, or don’t, how a wine tastes. Professor Maltman poses lots of questions and answers, while busting some myths along the way. Get a copy NOW!
Alex Maltman is emeritus professor of Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University in Wales. He has researched and lectured on vineyard geology on four continents and is a seasoned speaker at international conferences. He has contributed to a number of wine books, including The World Atlas of Wine and The Oxford Companion to Wine, for which he is responsible for the geological entries. Alex is the author of the acclaimed book Vineyards, Rocks and Soils: A Wine Lover’s Guide to Geology (Oxford University Press, 2018).
Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
Something with a little mineral, slate and limestone…
2023 Maison Riviere Sauvignon/Semillon
With its lower levels of acidity, almost oily textures, more subtle aromatics and rounder profile, it is the perfect complement to the leaner lines, zesty profile and fresh acidity of Sauvignon Blanc. A lovely fresh, fruity and tangy nose. It expresses notes of crunchy vine peach, ripe/juicy lemon, ripe/juicy mandarin and more lightly – green apple associated with delicate hints of lemon blossom, elderflower and has a discreet mineral hint. The palate is fruity and offers freshness, minerality, a fresh/acidic frame, roundness, sapidity, deliciousness, a nice iodized fat, a nice substance. It expresses notes of pulpy/juicy vine peach, fresh/crunchy apple and more lightly – fresh/juicy citrus fruits associated with a touch of zest, fresh/crunchy pineapple as well as a hint of pineapple flowers. elderberry, fresh lychee and racy minerality and an imperceptible hint of fresh almond in the background. ABV12.5%
The French VertdeVin rates this 2023 vintage 91 points (very high for them – on a par with far more expensive dry white Bordeaux, Sancerres and Burgundies) Available at Jacob Liquor Exchange East – get more info and order on-line