Terroir

Conceptual Overview and Discussion

Widely used in viniculture and viticulture (grape cultivation), terroir refers to the distinctive elements of a region that render its wines unique, distinctive, and typical of a place. In the winemaking context, terroir results from a combination of ecological, geological, historical, and human factors.

Strict agronomic definitions of terroir exclusively refer to the natural elements that contribute to shape the ecology of wine (innate or matter terroir), including climate and geology (topography, soil, and subsoil type). The interactions between climate and vineyard can happen at different levels: macroclimate of a wine region, mesoclimate of a subsection of a region (or of an appellation, discussed later in this entry), and individual microclimate of a particular vineyard or row of grapevine. Topography (the features of the natural landscape e.g., mountains, hills, valleys) interacts with climate, affecting the altitude and sun exposure as well as the soil geology of vineyards locations. Elements of soil refers to the chemical composition (nutrients and minerals) as well as physical characteristics (heat retention or water drainage properties) that influence soil fertility and the nutrition and growth of vine plants. Innate or matter terroir combines the material and chemical characteristics of the physical environment in which the grapes are grown.

The expression terroir effect refers to the intimate relationship between soil and subsoil, grape and winegrowing, and winemaking savoir-faire and practices that can influence the expression of the material characteristics of terroir in wine (choice of grape varieties, pruning, irrigation, selection of the time of harvest, conditions of fermentation). Sometimes literarily referred as “a taste of the soil” on a material level, terroir effect shows how minor variations in the material environment [Page 922]can produce rich and complex variations in production. Location, slope, humidity, soil acidity, the interactions of biological agents at the molecular level, changes in timing and length of sun exposure, the presence of scents in the atmosphere, or boulders in the soil can together profoundly affect the taste of the wine in the glass as the product of an extremely complex and adaptive natural system. There is, however, no conclusive proof of the material effects of the chemical composition of the soil, for example, so the importance of terroir remains a subject of debate and even controversy.

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