Gilman on Madeira

Fascinating reading, despite a degree of literary tone-deafness. Was struck by this assertion about acidity coming (also) from the soil: "As the wines tend to be so high in natural acidity, from the combination of the lack of malolactic fermentation, the style of the grapes used to produce the wines and the high acidity in the volcanic soils of Madeira..."
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Fascinating reading, despite a degree of literary tone-deafness. Was struck by this assertion about acidity coming (also) from the soil: "As the wines tend to be so high in natural acidity, from the combination of the lack of malolactic fermentation, the style of the grapes used to produce the wines and the high acidity in the volcanic soils of Madeira..."
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John could benefit from some editing.

Far from clear that even protons make their way into vines and then into grapes. Some of the highest-acid versions of different varietals I've tried have been from low-acidity limestone sites (think 1999 Brezeme, or 1999 Cotats, or etc.). I believe this to be a question of a competition for potassium, but I'm not well versed.
 
I think it's just the opposite, higher acid soils like here in Oregon seem to give wines that have more trouble holding their acidic nerve than wines grown on alkaline soils.
 
originally posted by Vincent Fritzsche:
I think it's just the opposite, higher acid soils like here in Oregon seem to give wines that have more trouble holding their acidic nerve than wines grown on alkaline soils.
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As a generality, that is much closer to my experience.

Any insight into mechanism?
 
originally posted by Vincent Fritzsche:
I think it's just the opposite, higher acid soils like here in Oregon seem to give wines that have more trouble holding their acidic nerve than wines grown on alkaline soils.
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Far from disagreeing, but couldn't this be due to other factors? The comparison would be more convincing if made between a variety grown in a higher acid Oregon soil and the same variety grown on an alkaline Oregon soil (assuming such exist too).
 
Sorry, none whatsoever. This subject of how soil characteristics affect wine flavor seems so vital to enology that one would have expected the scientists who, according to another thread, now run many wineries to have studied this in depth and have produced reams of research.
 
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