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In her newest book, Alice Feiring homes in on how an understanding of soil types can point to through-lines in wines from very different parts of the world. Rather than relying on tasting notes, Feiring attempts to ascertain the ways soil actually transcends a grape, pointing to tangible details like how a specific soil type can lend acidity or power, no matter the region. Limestone, for example: "It is associated with elegance. Limestone is something that you first sense up front in the mouth, on the tip of the tongue, and it betokens a long finish with a linear structure." Feiring's sense of humor (as seen in her description of Brettanomyces as smelling like "a small closet stuffed with live sheep") and cheeky descriptions ("in a wet climate well-drained granite soil saves Albariño's ass") are met with a real enthusiasm for the energy that earth can imbue in a wine. What emerges through Feiring's travels and tastings with her frequent co-conspirator, sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier, is that there's a way to evaluate wine that goes simply beyond taste.--Punch Magazine