Earlier this week I wrote about terroir, how it gives a wine a sense of "somewhereness." Well, as I was reading my latest Food & Wine issue, I came across a short article about dirt in cooking and food, which of course is translates to terroir in wine.They feature a quick blurb on different terroirs and how they affect the flavor of the wine. For example, in Mosel Germany the soil is composed of slate which in turn gives the Riesling that's grown there a "distinctive flinty edge." Likewise in Chablis France, home to great Chablis (which is made from Chardonnay that is unoaked and is a great wine, not what American's drank in the '70's and '80's from jugs) the soil has a great deal of limestone in it. That makes the wine smell like crushed oyster shells (cleaned, of course.)
Online at Food & Wine, I also found an article by Lettie Teague on searching for inexpensive wines that have a good expression of terroir. Not surprising the wines she talks about all come from the Old World: France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece. It gives you a number of wines (either by grape varietal or by region) to seek out and try. And all of the wines are about $15 or less. Just think, you can explore Europe through wine, with out leaving your city.
Speaking of exploring, tomorrow I will be attending Solo Vino's 2nd Annual Rose Tent Tasting. I don't know much about Roses so this should be intersting. I'll report back on what I find.
Cheers,
Sandy
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