What is terroir and why is it so importan?
Finding a quality wine isn’t easy, and much depends on the winemaking process, but also on the terroir, known as terruño in Spanish.
There’s a lot of talk about terroir, but there are also a lot of people that don’t know the meaning of this word that reverberates around the wine world.
Terroir: Where the wine grows
Known as terruño in Spanish, this French term comes from the Latin terra, which generates discussions due to the different meanings attributed to the word.
Its controversy begins with the literal meaning of this word. There are those who confuse it with the idea of “earth” or soil, but this isn’t exactly correct. Terroir refers to many more aspects than just the dirt.
Its more generalized definition more recently employed is a combination of natural factors that are able to lend special, and very particular, characteristics to a wine. It’s this combination of soil, topography, climate, biodiversity, altitude, and winemaking techniques that make a wine unique.
Contrary to what the origin of the word makes you think, it’s not just about the “earth” in which the grapevine grows. It’s the sum of the factors mentioned above that result in wines that are each distinct.
What is terroir and why is it so importan?
There are no two identical vineyards in the world with the same combination of natural factors and identical winemaking techniques.
Terroir lends personality, character, and typicality to a wine. That’s why drinking a wine is like traveling to the place it’s made, and understanding a little about the characteristics of its terroir.
What factors contribute to terroir?
There are many factors that contribute to a wine’s characteristics:
Climate, hours of sunlight, rain, temperature, and temperature range from day to night; force and type of winds; moisture in the soil and subsoil;, topography; altitude and latitude; texture, structure, depth, composition, fertility and drainage of the soil; orientation and incline of the vineyard; pathologies of the place (and the mechanisms to fight them); biodiversity of the surrounding area; grape variety; and the cultivation practices employed (due to tradition and winemaking culture in the area).
When planting a grape variety somewhere other than its origin, the resulting wine will be noticeably different because its terroir is different. The place changed, together with all that implies, including the traditions and winemaking culture of the region.
Each grape does have the same flavors and aromas from its terroir, all things being equal, and terroir can be used as a reference for a wine’s flavors, aromas, colors, and sensations.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t take a grape variety from its origin to plant in a new region. On the contrary, it’s a very common occurrence. However, grape varieties are often associated with the regions that are best able to produce and express their unique qualities, as these regions would be ideal for their cultivation.
Does terroir mean quality?
Not necessarily. Terroir lends an authenticity to a wine, with the agricultural characteristics of that vineyard, its origin, and winemaking process. But a wine can perfectly reflect its terroir without being an extraordinary or high-quality wine.
Tendencies
In the last few years, there has been a tendency related to terroir that looks to minimize the human intervention in the cultivation, in order to obtain more natural wines. This is closely related to organic wines.
Discover more about Bouchon’s vineyards Here.
