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Video Text:
Well, what I know about the Dundee Hills is that it is basically all volcanic. It’s incredibly consistent. There are patches of sedimentary soils. Some of the better vineyards up there…so I know Thomas, which is interesting which is a very high profile winery here, their whole vineyard in my understanding is actually sedimentary soils. So it’s in Dundee, but the you don’t have any of the volcanic, which makes for a unique expression of the site, which I think helps set that apart.
One of the things about volcanic soil, primarily is that the pH is really really low. It’s an acidic soil and oftentimes we hear, especially from major parts of Europe, you know, Kimmeridgean limestone and things like that, very basic soils are really conducive to higher acid retention and lower pH in the resulting fruit. Here we have, Ithnk on volcanic soils, a bit of a reversal of that, to where we see a little bit less acidity and higher pH. I feel like that results in some of the prettier textural elements of Dundee Hills wines. They tend to be less laser-like and more ethereal and lifted. And it’s great for dry farming up there because the soil is so uniform, and it’s deep, that you have great water retention so it’s great for organic farming and sustainable farming, but the less desirable sites have a tendency to be overly vigorous as a consequence of that, so you still have to find the right plot of land.