Is terroir?
posted by Gregory in Snooth
What is terroir. Well it is certainly a point of contention.
Loosely stated it is a French concept, the entire phrase is ” Gout de Terroir” or, literally, taste of earth, that implies that items, when well produced, express some unique attributes that represent a “sense of place”, a more figurative translation of the phrase.
So what does that really mean? Does it really mean that wines can taste of the minerals in the earth from which their grapes may come? Well the answer to that may be no and yes. You see while there is no scientific basis for these claim, as yet, it is undeniable that, for example, Muscadet tastes of the salty, marine and granite soils from which the wines come. However there is nor salt or granite in the wine so what’s up with that?
A good question but in order to be able to answer it, and in all honesty I will not be able to answer it, we really need to move beyond the idea that Terroir is exclusively this taste of the earth when it is so much more.
At the heart of the debate over terroir is the definition of the word. For my purposes it is that sense of place that certain wines exhibit. When one smells a Barolo from Monvigliero for example one can smell the sandy soil but beyond that there is generally a telltale note of black olive that is uniquely Monvigliero, or should I say Verduno, the village in which the Monvigliero vineyard is located.
There is some combination of soil, climate and vine that produces this identifiable trait in these wines but not in other wines that also come form the Nebbiolo grape. That to me is Terroir.
So what is up with that? Well a glass of wine has hundreds or organic compounds in it, we can identify only a handful, though each person has his or her own unique thresholds of perception so don’t be fooled into thinking that we each are able to smell and taste the same things in wine. Somehow the soil, climate and vines are able to produce unique compounds depending on the characteristic combination of those three element. These in turn produce the signature traits that are called terroir.
Now I maybe crazy, and I’ll certainly be called out on this, but that means that the terroir of North Coast Pinot in California may be cola flavored low acid fruit bombs. Not my style of wine, allow me an ack! or two, ack! ack!, but that may just be what the unique melange of soil, climate and vine is able to produce.
While I fully recognize that this may run counter to what the wine mafia want us all to believe I think the fact speak for themselves. What the wine mafia want you to believe is that Teroir is all about rocks, and minerals, and fresh fruit. To be even handed about this please allow me a Yum or two, yum! yum!.
This is where the terroir issue gets sticky. One thing is arguing about whether terroir even exists. I’m firmly in the camp that saysit does, but not everywhere, or at least I am not able to find it in every wine. I also fall into the camp that feels that wines that are produced in very warm climates, or from grapes that are allowed to get very ripe, tend to exhibit a dreary sameness of fruit that obscures or obliterates terroir, and let’s not get started on winemaking processes today!
It’s another thing entirely to then go one step further and narrowly define terroir to only include wine one likes, which is exactly what the wine mafia has done. Then they go around intimidating and bullying people they don’t agree with.
ENOUGH!
It’s time to just drink what you like and stop trying to move the immovable object. Let people make their own minds up on this question. I certainly advocate having an opinion and sharing those opinions freely but we need to move beyond the certitude with which we espouse our opinions. Wines are such a personal preference that it is really pointless trying to force people to like a style of wine which they may not like, may not be prepared to like, or may not be in the context to like.
Share information, share opinions, state your case, and then move on. I get it. People who generally drink organic wines from the Loire and Beaujolais are not going to enjoy many big Barossa Shiraz. Conversely those who revel in the pleasure of Cult California Cabernets are just not going to flip over many bottles of Sangiovese, but really, who cares. Let everyone know what choices we have and then let’s all make our own buying decisions without belittling or insulting those who have made different decisions.
So I started to write a little about terroir and ended up writing a little about wine appreciation as well. Sometimes things are not entirely as they appear and that is just a perfectly fitting note to end this on.
Gregory Dal Piaz
Community Manager
Snooth
Good article, Gregory. I’d like to say that of course terroir exists! Soil rich in blue slate for example warms up during the day and releases heat during the night. Grapes grown in such soil ripen more and thus bear the character of the terroir. There is a reason why Kansas is planted with corn and not Cabernet Sauvignon.
“There is a reason why Kansas is planted with corn and not Cabernet Sauvignon.”
Part of it being that 1)there was historically a better market for corn and 2)the US agricultural policy is so far in favor of planting corn that very little else can compete.
I don’t want to get in to any arguments here but let’s say you planted cab in Kansas. Divide you plot into four sections. Pick half of the grapes a week or two or three before the other half. With each half, divide in half again. Long cold maceration for one half, shorter and warmer for the other. Ferment, barrel, and bottle. Which of the four very different wines will show the terroir? And if you did that in St Emillion, with the same clones, and picking at the same degree of ripeness, would any of the four wines match up to any of the four in St Emillion? If not, having taken out the other variables, they are different because of the terroir. Of course, this is really simplistic - a slight rise or depression can make a lot of difference and while St Emillion is big, Kansas is vast, so you’d have to find roughly comparable sites.
Incidentally, Schmitges, in Germany, does that with his plot - i.e. picks one half early, one half late, ferments half of each totally dry and off dry and produces four completely different wines as a result, from the exact same grape and the same spot. As to which of his wines shows the terroir, I would say all of them do.
So broadly speaking, terroir can be defined as the sum of all influences on a site - soil, weather, climate, vintage, slope, etc. That can be attenuated by the hand of man - vine orientation, spacing, density, trellising. All of these things will influence the grape. But terroir can be further attenuated by the choices one takes with the winemaking - picking date, ripeness levels, fermentation techniques, etc. And in the end, that might trump everything.
Personally I think there are many many many places on earth that could produce great wine and that simply haven’t been explored. Idaho for example, is rocky, has cold nights, has a few warm regions, and how many people have looked around for great grape growing regions there? China has plenty of space and it’s unlikely that it has nowhere to produce good and even great wine.
And not to take issue with Greg, who I actually respect, but I’d go further than he did regarding the wine mafia. There is absolutely no moral value associated with your wine preferences, any more than with your color preferences. And what is the benefit in being dogmatic? Personally, I’m happy to drink organic wines from the Loire and Beaujolais AND big Barossa Shiraz. This weekend will try some Cult California Cabs and I’m putting together a tasting of Sangiovese for the next week. Too few people allow themselves to actually enjoy everything.
DerKellermeister,,
Thanks you very much. Of course I believe it exists as well. I just don’t think it’s that important to many people and their preferences and levels of interest in wine should be repsected.
Germany has some of the greatest terroir driven wines, Riesling in particular on earth! I am particularly partial to the raw, tenacious wines of the Saar myself.
Greg T -Where and when is the Sangio tasting?!?!?
I have some lying around that deserves to be drunk.
I appreciate the kind words Greg. We’ve shared many and I believe we are frequently on the same page. Come to Snooth tomorrow for some Beaujolais and and argument or two!
Greg - more on that tasting later. Interesting you mention riesling - today was the big riesling tasting in Tribeca and there seemed to be a lot of media there. Some interesting stuff happening at a riesling tasting too, like half of the producers doing pinot noir?
Hey Greg: That sense of place- and frankly of what’s been AT that place, is what’s got me geared about doing a little study concerning Barren Ridge ( http://www.snooth.com/winery/barren-ridge-vineyards/ ) in the coming years, when they begin harvesting their own fruit.
It had been an apple orchard, and a successful one at that, for more than a hundred years. Moreover, the vineyard’s owner (John Higgs) is the type that will charm you with his soft-spoken, southern accent- before you realize he’s got a Masters and a green thumb- growing up on the farm himself.
He’s planting a Riesling this year as well… though I hope he plants some of that Seyval Blanc that’s worked so well for the Crosskeys folks down the road.
When all of the elements come together, and you have the right guy steering the ship, I think the quiet southern gentleman Mr. Higgs may be onto something in the Shenandoah Valley- on the OTHER side of that mountain there ;).
I’m wondering if all those apples can find their way back someday ;).
!http://www.barrenridgevineyards.com/Gallery/BRV-Pergola2-Square.jpg!