In Search of Wine Quality: Soil and Water

Part 1: Soil Type and Texture
In the blogpost In Search of Wine Quality: Vineyard Location, the first step in the creation of a quality wine starts with the location of the vineyard. Concurrently, the type of soil and water availability must also be determined.

We used the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) online tool called Web Soil Survey to help us determine that our vineyard location consisted mainly of Paxton-Montauk fine, sandy loam soils. The NRCS site also has a Soil Texture Calculator. The Soil Texture Calculator requires knowledge of the percentages of clay, silt and sand in the sample. Knowing that, the calculator will determine what type of soil texture the sample is.

Another way to "calculate" the type of soil is to use the Soil Texture Triangle. Knowing the percentage of clay, silt and sand, draw a line as shown in the example. The intersection of the three lines determines the soil texture type. In this case, 15% clay, (horizontal line), 15% silt (diagonal line) and 68% clay (diagonal line) results in "sandy, loam" as the soil texture.
The importance of knowing the soil texture is to help in the determination of the water holding capacity of the soil. More topics to cover in future blogs.
References:
1. D. I. Jackson, P. B. Lombard, Environmental and Management Practices Affecting Grape Composition and Wine Quality - A Review, Am J Enol Vitic., January 1993 44: 409-430; published ahead of print January 01, 1993.
2. Soil Triangle Illustration from: Soil Types.
3. Link: Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS).