🪨 Granite

Granite is a hard, grainy rock. It forms when magma cools deep underground. In granite you can see small crystals of different colours: pink, white, black. Over time, water and frost break it down into sand and gravel.

Such soil is special for a vineyard. It is sandy and poor and lets water through quickly, so it drains well. The vine grows weakly and yields little, but the berries are concentrated. The stone warms by day and gives back heat at night, which helps berries ripen in cool places.

Granite soils are found in many wine areas: Beaujolais, the northern Rhône, Portugal, Germany and others. Wines from granite are often described as fresh, lightly mineral and well acidic. It is one of the soil types that shape terroir.