When I tell people that I blog about wine, most of them want to know how they can find it. I tell them the name of the site. This is always followed by a “what?” I then say it again. I am then asked to explain what this means. Certainly, this is a fair question. Many of the (few) readers I have are trying to convince me to change the name. Most likely good counsel.
Why don’t I let Jancis do the talking:
"Pomerol's finest wines are in general made on the higher parts of the plateau, which is predominately gravel whose layers are interleaved with clay, becoming sandier in the west, where rather lighter wines are made. The subsoil here is distinguished by a local iron rich clay, the so called crasse de fer, of which Chateau Pétrus has a stratum particularly close to the surface."
-from Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine
And an excerpt from the page on Chateau Lafleur at greatbordeauxwines.com:
"Subsoil here and many other places in Pomerol has a very interesting and distinctive composition, and is only to be found in Pomerol and therefore not widely known. It consists of the so-called "crasse de fer" and clay. "Crasse de fer" is iron dirt or more precisely a kind of very firm and stony blend of earth and metal with high content of iron-oxide, which gives the wines a very characteristic flavour of something fat and metallic, which many associate with truffles."
And from Frank Ward's Oeno File:
"The soil of Cheval Blanc, which is on the very border with Pomerol, is a mixture of clay, gravel, sand, and crasse de fer - rotting iron ore. The latter can impart truffly aromas and flavours."
From the Bordeaux Wine Site:
"Soil in Pomerol is a unique, outstanding geological phenomenon. The topsoil is made up of gravel that varies in compactness, with layers of clay and sand. The subsoil includes iron oxide, locally called "crasse de fer". This soil, combined with a special micro-climate, accounts for Pomerol's absolutely inimitable personality."
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