Wine cellars built underground: soil properties in the “Ribera del Duero” (Spain)

Abstract

The ground properties have a decisive effect on the interior conditions, as well as the integrity and durability of the underground wine cellars. The main objective of this paper is to determine the characteristics of the soils where these underground wine cellars have been dug. The results show that most of the soils present very similar plasticity and swelling properties. They are either concentrated in a very specific region of the plasticity chart or present zero plasticity. High-plasticity soils are uncommon, owing to the higher risk of swelling leading to stability problems in the wine cellars. In terms of grain size, silts and sands under 0.4 mm predominate, with a somewhat lower presence of clays. No wine cellars were found that had been dug in earth with very high plasticity or where gravels or clean sands predominate. We recommend that any new wine cellars should be excavated in earth with similar characteristics.