Grapevines grow in many different types of soil. Each soil type has its own unique characteristics which have a significant impact on the character of the grapes and the wine they are transformed into. But few grape-growing environments are as dynamic, complex, and varied as volcanic soils.

Volcanic soils begin as super-heated magna churning deep within the earth that rises, bursts through the surface, and explodes into the atmosphere, forming cones of lava which eventually cools.

Over hundreds, thousands, and millions of years, the lava dries, cracks, and gradually breaks down from something resembling rocks, to gravel, and eventually sand-like particles. Due to this coarse gravelly consistency, phylloxera aphids are typically not able to tunnel down to the roots, so it is not unusual to find extremely old vines in volcanic soils.

Some volcanoes are decidedly active, periodically erupting, and spewing lava flows. Some are dormant — sleeping but could wake up at any time — while others are completely extinct, that is, permanently closed for business. There are also many very old extinct volcanoes where no cone is visible, having been gradually eroded over millions of years, but the volcanic material is still very much present in the earth.

And, while volcanoes are present throughout the world, Italy happens to have many of them, from north to south, in all the various forms — extinct, dormant, and very active — and planted to a wide variety of native grape varieties.

In this class, we will investigate 10 compelling examples of volcanic viticulture, discuss the stories behind them and the grape varieties that call these areas home. Most importantly, we’ll have the opportunity to taste and compare these different wines of volcanic progeny in the glass.

Wednesday, November 29
6-7:30 pm
$95