Author: Sue Dyson and Roger McShane

Rocks scattered in Muscadet

Minerality in wine – Part 1

Minerality in wine and the role soil plays in contributing to minerality was the topic of a Masterclass at an early Rootstock natural wine festival in Sydney. It was interesting to participate in this event and to see how different people viewed the topic through completely different ‘lenses’. Vineyard managers […]

Auxerrois-grape-cluster

Pinot Auxerrois Grape Variety

Pinot Auxerrois (as it is known in Alsace) is a very interesting grape for making fresh, low acid, interesting wines. Although Riesling is more widely planted, the area devoted to Auxerrois is increasing every year as can be seen by the graph below. One of the most interesting things about […]

Terroir - Fanny Sabre limestone and iron soils

A new look at terroir

We explore some of the research that is emerging about the importance of living things in the landscape that contribute to terroir including the biota layer – the effect of living things. These living things range from the macro including birds, wasps and spiders down to the micro such as […]

Is it fine to fine a wine?

To fine a wine is a process of adding foreign substances to precipitate solids in the wine in order to make it clear. Fining often makes wines unsuitable for vegans and vegetarians. The term fining is bandied about in the wine community, but when we start to quiz people about […]