🪨 Sand

Sand is a loose soil made of tiny grains of rock. Water drains through it very fast, and it holds heat poorly. So sandy soils can be poor and the vine grows with difficulty, but the wine is often light and aromatic.

The main feature of sand for a vineyard is tied to phylloxera. This tiny aphid destroys vine roots, but hardly lives in sand: it finds it hard to move through loose grains. So on sandy sites vines could grow without grafting. One known example is the Portuguese area of Colares, where vines stand in sand right on the ocean coast.

Sand belongs to a large group of soils, along with clay, limestone and slate. Wine from sandy soils is usually soft, with low acidity and soft tannins. But sand has drawbacks: it holds moisture badly, so in dry years the vine suffers. Growers choose sand deliberately, weighing both strengths and weaknesses.