BASALT Cooled lava from volcanic rock that is high in calcium, iron, and magnesium. Very evident in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, to name one place.

In the minds of Italians, nebbiolo is, in status and kingly reputation, equal to the great cabernet sauvignons of France. The grape makes the exalted Piedmontese wines Barolo and Barbaresco.

Grenache is not particularly high in tannin, and thus great examples have a sappy, luxurious texture.

At first thought, it might seem as though a barrel-fermented white wine would also take on an undesirable amount of tannin from the barrel itself. Curiously, this is not the case. During fermentation the developing wine does extract tannin lodged in the staves. But when fermentation is complete and the spent yeast cells (lees) are removed from the

In California, the vines in many new and replanted vineyards are now placed much closer together. Twenty years ago, an acre of California vineyard typically contained four hundred to six hundred or so vines. With closer planting, the range is now from six hundred to nearly three thousand vines per acre (and sometimes even more). Importantly

The greatest red wines in the world always experience both barrel (oxidative) and bottle (reductive) aging.

At the same time, tempranillo is also the grape that makes blockbuster dense reds like tinta del Toro, of the Toro region, and the tinta del país of Ribera del Duero.

Of all the well-known grapes, pinot noir is considered the most difficult to grow and make into wine.

A wine’s texture is the tactile impression it has in your mouth. This impression is the result of stimulation of the trigeminal nerve. (The largest of the cranial nerves, the trigeminal nerve is responsible for sensations in the face and mouth.)