More reading on Terroir.

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

Wine Word Wednesday: Terroir.

Photo credit: jimbrickett

This term is often used when talking about French wines,  and in fact, the French believe strongly int the concept of terroir. This French word refers to "the total impact of any given site -- soil, slope, orientation to the sun, and elevation, plus every nuance of climate including rainfall, wind velocity, frequency of fog, cumulative hours of sunshine, average high temperature, average low temperature, and so forth." This definition was written by Karen McNeil in The Wine Bible and I've found none better.

Often terrior and soil are used interchangeably but as the above description indicates, that would be a mistake. The French, those in Burgundy in particular, believe so strongly in the concept of terrior that they do not have a word for winemaker. Rather, the vigneron or vine grower's duty is to express the terrior. It is their job to read the weather, the grapes and the environment and determine the right steps to take to create that ultimate expression.

This concept is not without debate. For example, some believe the presence and abundance of eucalyptus trees contribute to the often detected mint flavors in Australian Shiraz. Others say if that were true, we should be able to taste the exhaust from all the traffic in Napa Valley Cabernet.

Personally, I'd like to think that environment would make a difference. I'd like to think a tomato grown in my gardern (if I had one) would taste different (and better) than one grown with hydroponics. Perhaps I just like the romantic notion of it. Afterall, I still prefer real corks even though there's plenty of evidence to suggest screwtops are a better closure.