Geologist and artist Michael Veerhoff has been taking 1.20 metre sections out of the soil of each vineyard in order to make paintings out of them. As the director of the Viticulture Institute, Robert Ley, explained, the sections taken by Veerhoff include the minerals that influence the taste of the wine in question.
There are two different types of soil around the Moselle river, one of which (between Stadtbredimus and Wasserbillig) is chalky soil. In the area surrounding Remich, as Ley explains, the main type of soil is a clay soil. The difference in soil is crucial in developing the wine's taste, which will be completely different depending on the soil. The grapes that grow out of clay soil lead to hearty, wider wines, whereas chalky soil leads to subtler, elegant wines.
