28 January 2025 / Dániel Ercsey
Why a study on volcanic wine regions?
A few years ago, when Master Sommelier John Szabo's book on volcanic wines was published, the Hungarian wine industry - at least the marketing and communication part of it - realised that this could be a breakthrough point internationally for Hungarian wine. The good news is that, geologically speaking, there is indeed something to be gained from this message, but it must also be said that the amount of nonsense, mockery and misconceptions I have heard about volcanic wine regions in recent years is unprecedented! Whether you're a winemaker or a marketer, a viticulturist or a communicator, whether you want to sell wine or just talk about it, it’s almost certain that what you say about volcanic terroir - and not volcanic wine, I'll come to that later - is professionally incorrect - with respect to the exception.
What's wrong with volcanic wine?
Nothing, other than the fact there isn’t any.
What do you mean by that?
I mean that it’s the bedrock that’s volcanic, not the wine. Although the plant absorbs minerals (and not minerals in the geological sense!) from the soil that were deposited when the bedrock was eroded, this does not make it volcanic, nor the wine either. Let's use the right terminology!
If we call wine volcanic, we can bring consumers closer to the connection between geology and wine, can’t we?
I'll give you some facts, and then you can decide for yourself! Rhyolite is nothing other than quartz, feldspar and biotite. Basalt is plagioclase feldspar - which is calcium - and pyroxene, which is iron and magnesium. These are the two extremes of rock systematics. They are mutually exclusive. Yet both are volcanic rocks. So tell me, which is the real one? Which is more volcanic?
Is it a bad idea to write the names of minerals or rocks on wine labels?
On the contrary! But if you're going to put it on the label, check first whether it has anything to do with the mineral in question! For example, don't write “sapphire” on the label of Kéknyelű from Badacsony! Why should it there be? Because it’s blue? Sapphire has nothing to do with Badacsony or Hungary, it's the name of a mineral that happens to be blue, but I can name thirty other minerals that are blue. Rather, let's put relevant information on the label that we can put a credible geological story behind. I think this adds value to the wines.
In this paper, do you explain volcanism in plain language?
I cannot and should not speak about geology in layman's terms. I can write around it, of course, but pyroxene is pyroxene. I could start with a magnesium- and iron-containing silicate, but as I say, more and more new concepts will come into the picture, so at some point we realise that it doesn't make sense. Pyroxene is pyroxene, full stop.
So what's new about it?
When we say volcano, everyone thinks of Somló and Badacsony, or maybe Tokaj. We believe that it is volcanic where we find a volcano. A cone-shaped hill. But if granite comes to the surface in the East Mecsek or in Pázmánd, or even in Arad-Hegyalja, in Ópálos, it is also volcanic! It's almost identical to the rhyolite found in Tokaj, but nobody thinks of it as volcanic. But there is Sopron, for example, where the bedrock in some vineyards is orthogneiss, which is metamorphic, but actually granite. And - over geological time - the same type of soils are formed on these bedrock formations. The topography, climate and water regime may be different, but the bedrock and soil are very similar!
dr. Elemér Pál Molnár
This type of approach entails the unsustainability of the classification of wine regions and the need to introduce protection of geographical origin, including the smallest possible territorial units.
You speak from my heart! Geographical protection of origin, the smallest measurable unit of which is the parcel of land used by the Szepsy family, ultimately leads to the term ‘geoheritage’, which is a key element of the scientific discourse that is now taking shape. In principle, the concept of heritage - be it spiritual or cultural - seems to have taken on a new force, but geo-heritage is perhaps the only one where the judgement is not contingent, because it does not depend on ideologies, nations and national borders. Geology is a science. If I claim, after drilling and analysis, that there is a “spot” in the middle of the Betsek vineyard, which I can define, where a geyser broke up a long time ago, and that this makes the grapes grown there and the wine made from them taste different, then it makes sense to name that parcel of land within the vineyard in some way, and it makes sense to communicate this to the consumer! Don't get me wrong, it won't make the wine better or worse, but it will give it more of a story to tell.
Is there an example of this somewhere in the world?
Think of Burgundy! What are we talking about? A thousand years! A thousand years of continuous viticulture and winemaking. And what happened? Science has slowly converged with experience. How many times have they screwed up in the process? How many times have they made the wrong decision, planted the wrong vineyard, harvested at the wrong time or put the wine in the wrong tank? They did not know about science - alcohol, for example, existed before it was discovered. Then the Cistercians tasted the wine from that particular vineyard, smiled at how delicious it was, more delicate than the others, and added that it was the goût du terroir, the taste of terroir, the taste of the land. It was easy to apply the right marketing. They've had a thousand years to do it, so this may seem like an irrecoverable disadvantage! But I still say that we can shorten the catching-up period by using science! A bit like Asimov's heroes in The Foundation, who want to shorten the chaos. Learning time can be reduced exponentially through science.
Why is it good for the winemaker to know what bedrock he is working on?
Think about it, it also depends on which rootstock and which grape variety thrives there! Plus, he’ll be a story richer, which he can share with others. The concept of a cultural landscape is very broad, including a castle ruin, a poem about the landscape, our historical knowledge of the area, the flora and fauna of the area, but also the geological heritage of the region. If you look at it that way, you're really just putting in place another piece of the puzzle that has been little talked about. I hope this will change in the future!
The summary of the study is available at this link.
Cover photo: dr. Elemér Pál Molnár
Photos: dr. Elemér Pál Molnár, Hungarian wine Marketing Agency
