Significant aromatic profiles and longevity: these are the distinctive characteristics of the products born from volcanic soils.
Rich flavours, a high mineral content, longevity and complexity are undoubtedly some of the main features of the products born from volcanic soils, and in particular of the PDOs promoted by the Heva – Volcanic Agriculture of Europe programme: Soave, Lessini Durello, Santorini and Monte Veronese, protected by the Italian Soave and Lessini Durello Wine Producers Association, the Greek Association Union of Santorini Cooperatives – Santo Wines and the Veneto Association for the protection of Monte Veronese cheese.
Volcanic soils are marked by an extraordinary heterogeneity, and yet the products that originate from them have some important characteristics in common. One example is given by the Monte Veronese PDO cheese and the Soave, Lessini Durello and Santorini PDO wines, whose promotion, through the international project Heva – “Heroes of Europe: Volcanic Agriculture”, is funded by the European Union within the framework of Regulation no. 1144, and sets out to enhance the unique characteristics of wines and dairy products whose distinctiveness is rooted in their volcanic soils.
An example of these characteristics is undoubtedly the clear richness and pleasantness of flavour shared by the Soave, Lessini Durello and Santorini PDO wines, sometimes connected with a sharp acidity and sometimes with a predominantly sapid note. The aroma is fruity, but also herbaceous and earthy – properties owed to the high mineral content of volcanic soils, inclusive of magnesium, potassium and calcium.
The volcanic terroir is also highly permeable and fertile, providing vines with the ideal habitat. In several volcanic areas there are still ungrafted specimens not affected by phylloxera, which is incompatible with sandy soils, and it is this that gives the final products their strength and longevity.
A legacy that can also be found in the wines: the significant temperature changes typical of many volcanic territories promote the aromatic components of the fruit, contributing to the development of complex, elegant products capable of evolving over time.
“Soave has been focusing on these characteristics since the early 2000s, as we believe that the development of bottle-ageing aromas is one of the most interesting phenomena in the evolution of white wines,” comments Sandro Gini, President of the Soave Producers Association.
Another special feature given by volcanic terroirs is certainly complexity. Volcanic terroirs are marked by heterogeneity and constant evolution, and the structure of its soils is perhaps the most obvious manifestation of this, due both to a layered, varied composition and to a formation as a series of hills, mountains, plains and valleys.
“The strength and harmony with which these areas have always brought together contrasting elements translates into agri-food products whose complexity is synonymous with organoleptic and cultural richness,” says the President of the Producers Association for the Protection of Monte Veronese PDO Cheese, Alfonso Albi.
Complexity, therefore, is a recurrent element in all products of volcanic origin – both in cheeses, with their strong and intense aromatic profile, and in wines, marked by significant longevity and the ability to combine and harmonise fruity and mineral notes, contrasting aromas that have determined their success.
