Limestone: a terroir factor

The standard

An evidenced soil effect traces an impression in the wine back to a demonstrable property of the soil, such as water storage.

Criteria

  • The property of the rock is named, not just its name
  • Its influence on water or heat is describable
  • The effect runs through the vine, not as a direct taste
  • It holds for the parcel, not for the region at large

Distinction

Limestone ≠ soil profile: the limestone is a single factor, the soil profile the whole layering of a parcel. Limestone ≠ terroir: the evidenced soil effect of a rock is a component of terroir, not terroir itself.