I got into a very heated discussion about what terroir is and isn’t over the weekend, and I wanted to get some Berserker feedback on it.
My understanding of terroir is it is a culmination of the growing environment the grapes are grown in. The basis of the discussion was whether terroir included what the winemaker did (or didn’t do) with the grapes. My stance, is that terroir is only the influences BEFORE the grapes are “brought in the door” to be processed, and the opposing stance was that terroir included the decisions of the winemaker in making the wine.
What are your opinions? Does terroir include winemaking decisions, or does it only include influences/decisions made in the vineyard?
As a general rule, almost every terroir discussion I see, and especially in France, is primarily about the vineyards and not elevation. Indeed, it is standard ad copy for every vigneron to say they make wines that show respect for their terroir (even when they don’t)and that sentence wouldn’t even parse if terroir included elevage practices.
But–and this is a big but–this is a French word and if you look it up in any decent French dictionary, you will see that the definition includes an element of culture and tradition attached to a locality. Thus in French, it would be meaningful for example to say that the Provencale accents of characters in Marcel Pagnol films have the scent of their terroir. The extension of this into winemaking can well be an element of tradition in winemaking practices that would make some activities in the cellar accord with terroir and others not, even if those activities were not what might be considered absolutely neutral (if there is such a thing) with regard to elevage.
So mostly I’d say that your stance is correct. But the opposing stance does have a leg to stand on.
One of the biggest points that I had in the discussion, was about the use of chapitalization and acidification. If you are adding sugar/acid, doesn’t that directly change the expression of the wine, and thus the expression of terroir? If terroir is the culmination of the growing environment, wouldn’t the amount of sugar/acid in the grapes be a direct reflection of that environment, and changing that means that it is no longer a reflection of that place?
I am on board with the “tradition” aspect of the definition, but only when applied to the traditions of growing the grapes, which definitely have an effect on what happens in the winery.
But the sugar/acid can be changed in the vineyard with canopy management. VSP is a prime example. This is independent of other variables such as root stock and clones.
Things like canopy management would fall under the “tradition” part of what happens in the vineyard, to me. Taking a bag of C&H and dumping it into a fermentation tank would not be terroir to me.
My feeling is that the term should be limited to only what the local soil contributes in defining the character of the wine. This is especially apparent when it comes to Pinot Noir, in Burgundy and everywhere else it is grown. A Musigny is never a Chambertin, and a Charmes Chambertin is never a Ruchottes Chambertin, regardless of the weather during the year or the winemaker involved. So why not ust the term to express the surprising and identifiable flavor and character differences that are ONLY due to location (and not even the weather! As a Musigny will always be a Musigny, in cool xloudy years as well as hot sunny years, though the wines will differ in “style” and overall enjoyability because of the weather). The winemaker and winemaking can get in the way, or make things more transparent, but I don’t think they create the subtle flavor identities that the vineyards may yield…
In its purest form, yes it would preclude anything the winemaker does - including making wine with it!
The French are nothing if but pragmatic, and so it’s a moveable feast as to what additional activities are there to help reflect the terroir, be that traditional techniques, or non-traditional techniques they feel ‘better express the terroir’.
I think it is more than soil. It also includes other things about the site - elevation, direction, and even climate (more permanent things like how far north it is, exposure to wind, etc.), as opposed to weather (vintage). To me, there are multiple things that go into making a wine, e.g.:
terroir
vintage
winemaking
variety, clones and age of vines
farming practices
If you can’t smell/taste the difference, how so? Those two practices are neutral in respect to terroir, imo (unlike many other winery practices). A neutral correction that helps bring a wine into focus can help bring terroir to the fore. Better to pick at the optimal time for terroir expression and make a neutral adjustment than be compelled to pick too early or too late. Some very wonderful sites just don’t allow the luxury of adjusting the relative ripening rates in the vineyard. Many do, but it’s not right to paint with a broad brush and kneecap the potential of a great site with a dogmatic belief.
For my thinking, terroir is the vineyard’s soil and ‘exposure’ (i.e. the topography of the land/water around it).
The vintage, plant material used, the farming and the winemaking all determine how the wine expresses the terroir. Really tho, there’s no place here to draw a really clean line.
I agree with what you say except the first sentence. As Howard and Eric said, the term encompasses much more than just the soil/dirt. It’s the site/environs, including the exposure, the micro-climate, drainage, indigenous yeasts – the unique aspects of the site.
Whenever someone asks me, I say it is the specific character of the soil and climate for that particular area.
But then, sometimes I am afflicted with knownothingitis…
Sorry, I have gotten used to Frenglish translations in the Southern Rhone on various tourist translated materials. I should have said winemaking, of course.
I agree with what Howard said.
Terroir pretty much stops at the winery door. The only exception I can think of is wild fermentation with wild yeasts that are mainly those living in the winery.
Chaptelisation, acidification, adding or removing water from the wine are all attempts to ameliorate the wine that the terroir has produced.
The more contentious question is whether irrigation can be considered part of terroir.