The Greeks realized it, the Romans realized it and the French and modern Europeans have codified it into law. The place a wine’s grapes are grown has an impact on the aroma and flavor of the wine.
In one sense this is obvious because a wine grape is really nothing more than an agricultural product. It grows on a vine in the ground and is subject to the conditions of the soil and the prevailing weather during its ripening. It makes sense that the grape vine has certain minimum requirements for its healthy growth so it won’t flourish where it’s too cold or too hot, where there is too much or not enough rain, or where the ground is just plain inhospitable. But, aside from the fact that the grape grows and ripens, what impact does the place of its growth have upon its aroma and flavor as a finished wine?
If wine were not so intriguing a beverage this question would not be asked at all. And if wine were not such a valuable commodity the answer would not be important to anyone.
The fact is that wine has always been valued based largely upon where it comes from. Greek and Roman writing differentiated between the merely good and the great wines of their day by noting where the vineyard was located. Before them the vineyards that supplied wine to the courts of the Mesopotamian monarchs were located in the far off mountains and required expensive shipping to be enjoyed in the palace. From earliest times, wine had prestige and added value because it was rare and expensive compared to malt beverages brewed from grain. The grape type was relatively unimportant for many centuries although it was recognized that the grapes of a particular vine species, which came to called the vtis vinifera, was most dependable.
Through the span of Mediterranean and European history place continued to be the most important factor in determining a wine’s value. The great white wines of Germany (Reisling), the great red and white wines of Burgundy (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay), the red wines of Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) etc. where all known by their regional identities.
Grape types have come and gone but the regions remain great. At one time there was very little white Sancerre, it was known more for its red wines made from Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon is a relative baby, being the offspring of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc within the last three hundred years. Even wine styles have fluctuated over time. The red wines of Italy’s Peidmont region were significantly sweeter a hundred years ago. So to, the white wines of the Loire Valley were prized by the Medieval French kings for their honeyed sweetness although today’s tastes require far more dry white wine.
There is no place in the world of wine that makes a larger fuss over the impact of the vineyard site than Burgundy in France. Here, very intricate maps have been drawn demarcating individual vineyards, some very small, all close to one another along the hillsides of the Cote d’Nuits and the Cote d’Ore. Some vineyards are called “Village” vineyards because they are in the environs of particular villages like Fixin, Gevrey or Puligney. Others are rated higher and called “Premier Cru” or “Grand Cru”. They are also associated with certain villages but have a proper name of their own like Les Charmes or Batard-Montrachet. It was a confederation of Medieval monks who started this practice. They made wines from all the vineyards but noted subtle and consistent differences depending upon the vineyard location. Curiously, and to this day, the more expensive wine comes from vineyards located at mid slope. Vineyards on the flat land or too high up on the slope produced good but not great results. Looking at maps of Burgundy today you can pick out two vineyards that are side by side and yet, the wine from one is village-level and relatively cheap, while the wine from the other is a Grand Cru and demands astronomical prices.
The modern acceptance of this idea dates back only about eighty years to a time when French wine was in crisis following World War One. Vine diseases of different kinds, the infestation of the Phyloxera louse and the devastation of war brought the European wine industry to its knees. The French, to combat the sale of generic bulk wines as fine wines from an historical vineyard, created their appellation laws. AOC (Appellation d’Origine Controlee) dictated what kind of grapes were legal for each growing zone as well as the vineyard techniques and the winery practices that had to be used. Thus, in order to be labeled as a “Chateauneuf-du-Pape” the grapes had to be grown in that place only and follow distinct rules of ripening, fermentation and blending in order to qualify.
The French AOC system seemed to be a success so other countries followed suit in the decades between the world wars. Today There are AOC in France, DOC in Italy (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) and AVA in America (American Viticultural Area). These are all systems of legally recognized geographical grape growing zones. With the creation of these lawful zones the idea of terroir was reborn. The French phrase, gout de terroir literally means, “taste of the earth” and had been used in earlier times to refer to poorly made, rustic local wine that tasted “earthy”. It was a derogatory word for a fruitless, bland or even bitter and distastefully smelly wine. It tasted like the earth, yes, like a mouth full of dirt. It was only after the creation of the AOC system, and the idea that specificity of place really mattered, that the derogatory term became a term of respect.
I believe that the place a wine comes from does make a difference and I believe there is a distinction worth recognizing between the wines of Europe and the wines of the New World. But I think the mystical yet commonplace use of the word “terroir” is mostly about marketing. Everyone likes to claim that their wine expresses the terroir of its location but, frankly the idea of terroir is too big to add cache to specific wines.
Terroir is the combined influence of vineyard aspect (how a vineyard faces the sun, its exposure or shelter from wind and weather and its physical location on a hillside or in a valley), its soil (rocky, sandy, rich and fertile etc.), the specific weather conditions during the growing season (rain, heat, damaging frost or hail) and the myriad decisions made by experienced vineyard managers and wine makers. These are conditions that all wines share to a degree, merely by the fact that they are wines. It is undeniable that different wines taste distinctly different. Heck, it undeniable that the same wine tasted twice, or from two different bottles, can exhibit distinct differences. It’s clear that some wines, from some places are consistently extraordinary while others are average. It can certainly be argued that wines from very similar locations have a regional resemblance, and that different wines made by the same wine maker share a certain family resemblance. But is this because of some mystical thing called terroir?
I do not believe that the location of a wine’s production is any guarantee of quality, though some AOC or AVA (whichever) do seem very consistent. European appellations have many more rules and that means more similarity between wines of a certain place, so it’s more possible to have an idea of what a wine might taste like before you open a bottle from Europe. But wine making, even where strict guidelines are in place still breeds variation and, outside of Europe there are few guidelines. When you taste a wine from a place you know about I think you can conclude that some aspects of flavor and taste are the direct result of prevailing weather, geography or geology. I also think that, without that foreknowledge it’s pretty rare to able to correctly describe anything about the vineyard or the vine.
Wine lovers love to sniff and swirl, discuss and speculate and the finest, rarest wines in the world, or one that has been diligently aged offer subtle, sumptuous pleasures. And wine is unique in it’s depth and personality, its complexity and expressiveness … at least the good stuff is. But wine is also a commodity. The modern marketplace demands rationalization and explanation, especially when higher prices are being asked. The idea of terroir may shine with more clarity from certain wines but it is just that, an idea. Hatched by French regulators and taken up by wine makers and writers the world over, terroir has become something everyone wants to claim, like their grapes are “picked at the peak of ripeness”.
Enjoy your wine. Be interested in its interesting aspects but take the terminology with a grain of salt.
