THE GEOLOGY OF THE TERROIR
The greater zone Überetsch/ Oltradige
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The last and most important ice advance of the Würm Ice Age took place around 20,000 years ago. A closed network of ice streams formed and only the highest peaks such as the Roen protruded from the ice cover.
Due to the slowly flowing ice, the entire Überetsch received the typical pattern of a glacial valley floor.
This resulted in massive deposits of loose sediments. The valley gravel, which is partially covered by ground moraines, was formed into elongated ridges, all of which are strictly embedded in the direction of the ice flow. It is these gentle ridges parallel to the slope that characterize the natural, terraced wine landscape.
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The micro zone Unterrain/ Riva di Sotto
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The Cora Hof is located just below the Missian terrace - this terrace forms the boundary between the Permian volcanic rocks (red porphyry, 400 million years old) and the Mendel - Mesozoic Era (white limestone, sea deposits and reef limestone) above.
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The ice retreat of the last ice age began around 15,000 years ago, and the glacier tongue was divided into the Etsch glacier and the Kaltern tongue.
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At the Cora Hof a large glacial lake formed with the correspondingly large-scale deposits of fine sand. When the ice masses advanced again, the sands were extremely compacted. These over-consolidated sands are very hard and difficult to work with.
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These unique ice age sediments, the south-east facing slope with intense sunlight from the early hours of the morning and cool, evening winds create ideal conditions for the Cora wines to thrive
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