In last week's article, I described terroir and its effects on the grape. Some of you may be still questioning if if it really exists. To show its importance, I'm going to use where I grew up to show you its effects using the Cabernet Sauvignon grape to illustrate it, Though vaunted as one of the world's premier wine producing regions, it is relatively small, producing only about 4% of California's wine production.
Despite its modest size, the Napa Valley is a region of enormous soil and topographical diversity, which manifests itself in the wines produced. Of the twelve major soil series in the world, six can be found in the Napa Valley with more than one hundred soil variations.Thet stretch between the warmer Calistoga to the cool south.Vineyards are planted on the fertile valley floor, the benchland above the river, and the thinner soils of the mountainsides.
The other critical factor of terroir diversity of the valley is the ocean effect. The Napa Valley ia s warm, sunny region, with a cooling fog pulled in from the Pacific waters, creating many different mocroclimates and is fundamental to moderating the warm temperatures in the valley.
For the most part, there are two different main groupings - vally floor or benchlands and mountain wines. The Bechland produces more poerful wines packed with ripe blackberry fruit and silky tannins. Rutherford, Oakville, and Stag's Lead are good examples of this. The Mountain vineyards with their thinner soils produce greater purity of fruit expression. Wins from them are fresher, tighter, and ofen more perfumed, such as Howell, Spring, and Siamond Mountain.
Napa Cabs are big, full bodied wines and ofen blended with Merlot, Cab Franc or Petit Verdot and with additional cellering rounding out the tannins, making older vinages smoother. The Cabernet Sauvignon grape originates from Bordeaux south of the Gironde River have spread to Australia, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, California and nieghborong Spain. Each with its own terroir variations and micro-regions producing wines with subtle and some dramatic differences. Next time when you reach for a Cab, remember a cab is just not a single personality wine, but like us with many variations so check where it is grown before you buy.