Why is volcanic wine getting people so hot under the collar?

The question of whether 'volcanic wine' should be considered a standalone category sparks endless debate around the world. Eloise Feilden finds out what’s getting producers so fired up.

SINCE ANTIQUITY, volcanoes have kept us in awe. Looming, oozing marvels of molten rock, they incite in people “admiration, fear, fascination”, says Sofia Perpera, chemist and oenologist at the Greek Wine Federation. They remind us of just how small we really are. It comes as no surprise that red-hot rivers of lava and great plumes of ash have captured our attention for millennia. “There are so many movies and books about volcanoes,” Perpera says. “It’s something that always fascinates people.” Volcanoes have defined whole societies and communities. A 16th-century volcanic eruption has forever shaped the rugged landscape of the Greek island of Santorini and its inhabitants, for instance. “Everything about the island is caused by the volcano,” Perpera says. “If you see Santorini for the first time, it looks very unfriendly. Just think: black soil, very hot, a lack of rainfall – it seems like hell.” Nevertheless, thanks to undulating clouds of sea mist in the early mornings and late evenings, “whatever is grown on the island – grapes, capers, tomatoes, chickpeas or white eggplants – the flavours are so condensed and delicious”. The influence is just as strong on the personalities of those populating the island. “Even the people are short, but intense,” Perpera laughs.

INTENSE DEBATE

This is true, it seems, for volcanic regions the world over – or at least for their winemakers. The question of whether ‘volcanic wine’ should be considered its own category, or given a universal definition, often sparks debate. “There’s lots of argument over the definition of what volcanic is,” says John Szabo MS. If you want to know whom to thank for bringing volcanic wines to the masses, John Szabo is your man. The Master Sommelier ’s book, Volcanic Wines: Salt, Grit and Power, published in 2016, is largely considered the seminal work on volcanic viticulture, and helped develop the category.

“Going back almost 15 years, when I wrote a short paragraph that eventually turned into an article that then turned into a book, the concept of volcanics didn’t really exist,” he says. “That’s certainly changed in the last decade – I’m seeing much more of the word volcanic used in marketing materials, back labels and promotional material.” Time and again the word ‘minerality’ comes up in discussions of volcanic wine. “Salinity, acidity and delicate but complex aromas are strongly linked to volcanic soils, resulting from recent eruptive activity,” says Maurizio Lunetta, director of the Etna DOC Consorzio. Antonio Ciccarelli, PR & communication manager for Italy’s Piccini, agrees that all volcanic wines share a ‘fil rouge’: the “salty taste and the minerality on the nose”, often combined with a “smoky note” that emerges in the bouquet. Szabo’s view on a set definition is simple: if the grapes were grown on terroir created by a volcanic eruption, then the resultant wine is volcanic. “I wanted to be true to a definition which is, I think, a commonly held one, that volcanic terroir has to originate from rocks that extruded from a volcano,” he says. Andrea Pieropan, a fourthgeneration member of the Soave- based winemaking family, has just as straightforward a view on the subject. “I consider volcanic wines to be those which come from grapes cultivated in volcanic origin soil,” he says. For some regions, it really is this simple. Etna DOC in Sicily, for example, is indisputably volcanic, located on one of the world’s most active volcanoes. “We have Mount Etna, Stromboli, Pantelleria and smaller islands where there is no hesitation about the definition of the soil,” says Patricia Toth, the winemaker at Sicily’s Planeta, who considers the winery “lucky” to be working in Sicily, where “the definition is way more clear” than in other regions.

POSTER CHILDREN

Etna wineries are what Szabo dubs the “poster children” of volcanic wine. He jokes that Etna producers “don’t even like to play in the same sandbox” as regions they deem not to be “pure enough” in volcanic terroir. Antonio Benanti from Etna-based Benanti says that, while “a number of wine territories can be defined as volcanic because of their soils”, Etna’s active volcano is its trump card. “Growing vines on an actual volcano is far more rare, and doing so on an active volcano is definitely unique,” he says. As such, a ‘rivalry’ has emerged among the different so-called volcanic regions. Even the DOC director refuses to acknowledge wines from other regions in the same category as Etna. “Wines from various volcanic areas have a different and often recognisable character, but it is not easy to consider them as a single category. In the world, many soils are of volcanic origin, but from volcanoes that have been extinct for millions of years, with soils that have been profoundly transformed by time,” Maurizio Lunetta asserts unequivocally.

Even Pieropan – based in Italy’s Soave region – has his qualms. Soave DOC was an early proponent of volcanics, but in recent years the regional body has taken a back seat in promoting them, likely due to the fact that not all of the DOC’s vineyards are located on volcanic soils. “I know that in the last few years volcanic wines have started to be communicated as their own category, but in my opinion, not in the correct way,” Pieropan says. “There are more recent soils, and soils where the volcanic origin is very old, meaning the wines cannot be the same.”

DIFFERENT VOLCANICITY

Kristian Kielmayer is a wine consultant who hosted a masterclass on the volcanic terroir of Hungarian wines at the latest OIV Congress & Conference. He argues that there is “different volcanicity” between old and young volcanic regions. “If you go to Etna, there are five-minuteold volcanic soils. Then you have some volcanoes which are dormant – in Germany, Alsace or Hungary in particular – they’re sleeping,” he says. Getting into the nitty-gritty of active versus dormant volcanoes has its risks. Szabo says: “I think there’s a danger of getting too reductive and losing the consumer, which is ultimately the person these people want to speak to.” Consumers, he says, are put off by “geological hodgepodge and jargon”, adding: “Geologists are actually the worst people to bring into these kinds of discussions.” Szabo argues that it need not be so complicated. “Whether it’s 200 million or 20 minutes, if it came out of a volcano it qualifies as volcanic. Why wouldn’t it? It’s just the degree of weathering that changes,” he argues. Consumers are, perhaps thankfully, sheltered from the internal bickering. And whatever goes on behind the scenes, the thirst for wines which put ‘volcanic’ on the label is growing. Klearhos Kanellakis, head sommelier and wine buyer for London’s Ekstedt at the Yard, has been pairing the restaurant’s Nordic wood fire-based menu with volcanic wines for more than three years.

He says that, for the restaurant’s patrons, “volcanic wines have an added quality because of the soils and the terroir”. The success of better-known volcanic regions – “like Madeira, Santorini and Sicily’s Etna”, he says – is giving rise to other areas gaining popularity. “Some places have volcanic soils, but they’re not such obvious volcanic regions, like parts of Chile or Mendoza – even New Zealand on the island of Waiheke.” Ben Gordon, managing director of Bodega Volcanes de Chile, says consumers have “grabbed onto” the idea of volcanic wine for one obvious reason: “It’s a great story. The idea of the Earth’s influence on soils, using the imagery of majestic volcanoes, lava flows or magmatic plumes, is ultimately a delightful way to portray terroir,” he says.

NO DOWNSIDE

For Szabo, there is no downside to highlighting a wine’s volcanic origin. “Some regions don’t need it, but others could certainly use some kind of marketing hook,” he says. Kanta Sawamura, CEO of Japan’s Fujiclair Winery, says that, for wineries on Mount Fuji, the concept of volcanics offers a new opportunity overseas. Almost half of Japan’s agricultural land consists of a rare type of soil known as ‘andosols’, which accounts for less than 1% of the world’s total soil, and which was formed by ash deposits from volcanic activity that occurred 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. “Since volcanic soil is not particularly rare within Japan, we have not traditionally marketed ‘volcanic wine’ as a unique selling point domestically,” he says. “However, compared to other major wine-producing regions – such as the limestone clay of Burgundy, the gravelly soils of Bordeaux and the alluvial soils of Napa Valley – Japan’s distinct andosols stand out as something truly special. This rarity, along with the mineral-rich and complex flavours imparted by volcanic soil, presents a significant opportunity to elevate the appeal of Yamanashi wines in international markets.” For a sommelier like Kanellakis, introducing curious customers to new regions via the volcanics hook is a nobrainer. His customers “enjoy exploring something new”, and get to learn about new regions via his pairing menu, he says. But being the shiny new toy will only get you so far, and for producers from volcanic regions around the world, the quality of the wines must provide their staying power. Gordon agrees that, while consumers always engage with good stories, “they also want truth over fantasy”. For ‘volcanic wine’ to survive as a category, winemakers within it are going to have to keep offering truly exceptional wines.