Are the rocks added to the soil?

Hmm...maybe they planted their vine-yard in a scree-yard?

I have heard about vignerons in Burgundy (Corton, I think) religiously gathering the stones that drifted downslope and placing them back on top of their goilden hills.

Cool picture!

"Markus" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...

In fact, true, but just because the best soil on the slopes is different (marl) than in the valleys. If you imagine the valleys cutting through the layers of rock and soil or gravel or whatever, it's easy to understand that different parts of the slopes have a different composition. With respect to the stones of the Rhone - are you sure that it wasn't Chateauneuf-de-Pape? No, the stones were not put there, the vines were - i.e. again favorable conditions. Vines thrive best when they have to fight for a living (like people, lean is mean). Most vineyards are in places unfit for just about any other sort of agriculture. Anders

"Anders Tørneskog" skrev i melding news:i_G2d.2463$ snipped-for-privacy@juliett.dax.net...

Ah, well, not too lean of course :-) The stones magazine day heat making nights less cold, I've heard. Anders

] ] "Anders Tørneskog" skrev i melding ] news:i_G2d.2463$ snipped-for-privacy@juliett.dax.net... ] >

] > i.e. again favorable conditions. Vines thrive best when they have to ] fight ] > for a living (like people, lean is mean). ] >

] Ah, well, not too lean of course :-) The stones magazine day heat making ] nights less cold, I've heard.

That's certainly the theory, anyway.

As to the picture, it's hard to say whether the stone is native or not. I've never heard of anyone trucking in stone, but who knows? It doesn't look like the native stones of Chateauneuf du Pape, which are the "galettes" types: round (flattened oval) and a bit more tan, presumably formed from some sort of glacial run-off. There are certainly plently of vineyards with this much rock, but this does have a little bit of a quarried look to it.

If you tell us where it is more precisely, perhaps we can answer. Remember, the Rhone valley is a _big_ area.

-E

w/ respect to Chateauneuf, here's a picture of what I'd consider more typical stones:

HTH

-E

Surely galettes are more often found in your neck of the woods, Emery. In CdP they're galets, non? ;-) Since Leo's photo is of Mont-Redon's vineyard, it is probably CdP :P I remember someone telling me that the stones of La Crau were different, but I doubt that what we're looking at is La Crau. It probably accounts for why Mont-Redon's wines are usually so disappointing.

Mark Lipton (gradually making his way through the 200+ posts he missed)

] ] ] Emery Davis wrote: ] ] > On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 19:52:24 GMT, "Anders Tørneskog" said: ] >

] > ] ] > ] "Anders Tørneskog" skrev i melding ] > ] news:i_G2d.2463$ snipped-for-privacy@juliett.dax.net... ] > ] >

] > ] > i.e. again favorable conditions. Vines thrive best when they have to ] > ] fight ] > ] > for a living (like people, lean is mean). ] > ] >

] > ] Ah, well, not too lean of course :-) The stones magazine day heat making ] > ] nights less cold, I've heard. ] >

] > That's certainly the theory, anyway. ] >

] > As to the picture, it's hard to say whether the stone is native or not. I've never ] > heard of anyone trucking in stone, but who knows? It doesn't look like the native ] > stones of Chateauneuf du Pape, which are the "galettes" types: round (flattened oval) ] > and a bit more tan, presumably formed from some sort of glacial run-off. There are ] > certainly plently of vineyards with this much rock, but this does have a little bit ] > of a quarried look to it. ] ] Surely galettes are more often found in your neck of the woods, Emery. In CdP they're ] galets, non? ;-)

Erm, oui. Type in haste, etc. Of course I suppose the Fete des Rois is celebrated nationally. Therefore there are neither more nor less galettes in CdP. :)

] Since Leo's photo is of Mont-Redon's vineyard, it is probably CdP :P I ] remember someone telling me that the stones of La Crau were different, but I doubt that ] what we're looking at is La Crau. It probably accounts for why Mont-Redon's wines are ] usually so disappointing. ]

Is it Mont-Redon? I must have missed a post, or not looked very carefully at the link. You've lost me with La Crau, unless you refer to the practically eponymous Dom Mont Redon (Cotes de Provence).

Here's a link to some photos of Ch Mont-Redon, they look like the regular galets to me:

Certainly M-R is usually pretty disappointing. It seems to me I did have a decent one not too long ago, have to consult my notes!

] Mark Lipton ] (gradually making his way through the 200+ posts he missed) ]

Yes, it's hard to catch up when things get going, eh?

-E

Salut/Hi Leo Bueno,

le/on Fri, 17 Sep 2004 14:54:13 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

Interesting. One thing is certain, the vineyard is not in Chateauneauf-du-Pape. The rocks look sort of limestone-y. I'm afraid I don't recognise the vineyard and I don't know anywhere with that amount of naturally occurring broken rock like that. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it in any of the (not too many) Rhone vineyards that I've visited. (Tavel, Chateauneuf, Hermitage, Beaumes de Venise).