Terroir was originally a French term in wine and coffee appreciation used to denote the special characteristics of geography that bestowed individuality upon the food product. It can be very loosely translated as "a sense of place" which is embodied in certain qualities, and the sum of the effects that the local environment has had on the manufacture of the product. Terroir is often italicized in English writing to show that it is a French loanword, although many now regard it as a word naturalized into English. Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of grapes and grape juice. ... Coffee in beverage form. ... A loanword is a word directly taken into one language from another with little or no translation. ...

The Terroir-France website asserts that "a 'terroir' is a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation, and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions, grapes and wine making savoir-faire, which contribute to give its specific personality to the wine." Some writers include history, tradition, vineyard ownership and other factors.

The contemporary meaning of the term clearly goes beyond mere geography, but at that point disagreement begins. Some assert that terroir is distinct from the characteristics imparted by the plant variety, the vintage and production methods (vinification, etc.), and is the product of a range of local influences that are transmitted into the character of the product. Vintage near Sorrento, Italy, Jacob Philipp Hackert, c. ... Grow and harvest grapes. ...

The question of whether terroir is quantifiable, and the role that terroir plays in producing a "good" wine are matters of some controversy. To complicate the issue even more, some oenophiles use the concept of terroir to refer to wines that are distinctive and unique to their place of origin. In this case, terroir refers not to land but to wine. Look up Controversy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For other uses, see Controversy (disambiguation). ... An Oenophile (also known as a wine aficionado) is a person who appreciates or collects wine, particularly grape wines from certain regions, varietal types, or methods of manufacture. ...

Elements

The components of terroir may include:

• Mesoclimate
• Soil type - Is it rich in nutrients or barren, is it primarily chalk or clay?
• Geology - Good drainage or poor, is the bedrock shallow or deep?
• Aspect - Do the plants get lots of sun due to being on a south-facing, steeply sloped site?
• Altitude - higher altitude means the same amount of sun but lower temperatures
• Vineyard management practices, including such things as vine spacing, direction of rows, fertilization techniques, "green harvesting," pruning practices, harvesting techniques, and other factors.
• Vinification practices including blending choices, length of fermentation, temperature of fermentation, proportion of new oak barrels used for ageing, length of aging, fining and filtering decisions, and many more factors.
• Human history of the land, including length of time the land has been cultivated, who has owned the land, and many more factors.

Soil is material capable of supporting plant life. ... The Needles, part of the extensive Southern England Chalk Formation For other uses, see Chalk (disambiguation). ... Quaternary clay in Estonia. ... Geology (from Greek γη- (ge-, the earth) and λογος (logos, word, reason)) is the science and study of the Earth, its composition, structure, physical properties, history and the processes that shape it. ... Aspect can refer to: Aspect (computer science) is a feature that is linked to many parts of a program, but which is not necessarily the primary function of the program. ... ... A vineyard Vineyard with bird netting Wine grapes with netting as protection against birds A vineyard (vignoble in French, vigna or vigneto in Italian, vinha in Portuguese, viña or viñedo in Spanish, Weinberg in German) is a place where grapes are grown for making wine, raisins, or table... Grow and harvest grapes. ...

Does terroir exist?

And if so, does it matter? The concept of terroir means that wines from that terroir are unique, incapable of being reproduced outside that area, even if the variety and winemaking techniques are painstakingly duplicated. For the French, who claim to be home to many of the finest terroirs in the world, this is simultaneously self-evident and also extremely self-serving. Winemakers in Burgundy do not believe that they are producing Pinot Noir that happens to be grown in Burgundy, but that they are producing unique Burgundian wines that happen to be made from pinot noir. Only since the early 2000s, in the face of consumer demand, has it been legal to put "Pinot Noir" or "Chardonnay" on the front of any Burgundian label. (See wine labels). The French believe that place of production is much more important than the grape variety or the producer. Pinot Noir vines at Clos de Bèze, Gervey-Chambertin, on the Côte dOr, France Pinot noir is a variety of vitis vinifera, the red grape used commonly in winemaking, and may also refer to wines produced predominantly from pinot noir grapes. ... This article needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ...

The opposite argument comes from those who do not believe in the concept of terroir. They agree that many aspects of terroir are important to wine quality, such as drainage, aspect, etc., but dispute that the combination creates something truly unique and better. Some argue that perceived local characteristics of wine come predominantly from factors such as local wild yeasts, rather than from factors such as soil and microclimate.

In the middle are those who agree that terroir causes wines to be different, but believe it has no impact on the overall quality of the wine. In their thinking, a Volnay can be a great wine even if it doesn't taste much like other Volnays.

Top-level terroir

In wine, the Burgundy region is often considered an excellent example of terroir. Examples include earthy notes found in Savigny and perfumed red fruit in Volnay and Chambolle – though both are different. In theory, parcelling of the land into smaller lots (crus, lieu-dits or whatever you prefer to call them) has nothing to do with the wine market or any type of marketing for that matter. The legend is that scholarly monks controlled the vineyards for 500 years or longer and believed they could characterise the differences. The idea is to rank quality of terroir starting at the top with grand cru, followed by premier cru, villages, regular Bourgogne, and ending finally with Bourgogne Ordinaire. In reality, while many sites indeed were identified hundreds of years ago, the INAO has often expanded the most notable to include lower-quality land, and occasionally promotes sites to premier or grand cru. Furthermore, the ranking is based on the inherent potential quality of the site, and is emphatically not a ranking of actual wine quality. The quality of the terroir can easily be obscured by substandard winemaking. Coat of arms of the 2nd duchy of Burgundy and later of the French province of Burgundy Burgundy (French: Bourgogne) is a historic region of France, inhabited in turn by Pre-Indo-European people, Celts (Gauls), Romans (Gallo-Romans), and various Germanic peoples, most importantly the Burgundians and the Franks. ... Savigny is the name of several communes in western Europe: In France Savigny, in the Manche département Savigny, in the Haute-Marne département Savigny, in the Rhône département Savigny, in the Haute-Savoiedépartement Savigny, in the Vosges département See also: Savigny-en-Revermont, in the Saône-et-Loire département Savigny... Grand Cru is the highest level of classification of AOC wines from Burgundy or Alsace, those that come from a single vineyard. ... First Growth (French Premier Cru) status refers to the greatest wines of the Bordeaux region. ... A village is a human settlement commonly found in rural areas. ... Capital Dijon Land area¹ 31,582 km² Regional President François Patriat (PS) (since 2004) Population  - Jan. ... The Institut National des Appellations dOrigine is the France organization charged with regulating controlled place names. ...

Someone tasting in a number of wines from the premiers crus may perceive them as more concentrated and interesting than the villages wines, and perceive a similar jump from premier cru to grand cru. However, the role of terroir in this can be difficult to determine. One important factor may be expectancies, which is one reason blind tasting is so important. (For example, people expect more expensive wine to have more desirable characteristics than less expensive wine. When given wine that they are falsely told is expensive they virtually always report it as tasting better than the very same wine when they are told that it is inexpensive.) Grand cru wines have lower legal limits on yield, such as a nominal 35 vs 40 hl/ha (350,000 vs 400,000 L/km²), and so on for village and Bourgognes, so they would be expected to be more concentrated. Also, the percentage of new oak tends to increase as the price increases, another difference that is unrelated to terroir. However, despite differences in winemaking, most people do not dispute the effects of terroir. And terroir certainly effects market price.

However, in blind tastings, Premiers Crus often fare poorly against other wines. In the historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, the creme de la creme of French wine experts ranked a California wine as the best red wine and three of the four top whites were from California. The results of this and many subsequent blind wine competitions around the world suggest that the importance of terroir can easily be overstated. French wines were generally believed by most people to be the very best wines in the world until 1976. ... The most common form of wine competition is one in which awards are given to groups of wines in various winning categories on the basis of the blind tasting of wine. ...

For example, in the Ottawa Wine Tasting of 1981, "thirteen wines were involved, and California swept the first five places, defeating Château Lafite-Rothschild, Château Mouton-Rothschild, Château Latour, Château Margaux and Château Haut-Brion, all from the excellent Bordeaux vintage of 1970." These are all Premiers Crus as established by the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 and have the greatest terroirs in France. The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 revolutionized the wine world. ... Château Lafite-Rothschild is a very famous winery in France currently owned by members of the Rothschild family. ... Château Mouton Rothschild, located 50 km (30 mi) north-west of the city of Bordeaux, France in an area known as the Médoc, specifically the village of Pauillac. ... Château Latour In most appraisals of the wine-growing world, the five First Growth Châteaux of the famous 1855 Bordeaux Classification are placed among the very best in the world. ... The vineyard of Château Margaux stands as the producer of one of the worlds greatest and most sought-after red wines. ... Château Haut-Brion is located in Pessac, Graves just one mile (2 km) from the city of Bordeaux in France (Appellation Graves Controlée). ... For the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, Emperor Napoleon III requested a classification system for Frances best Bordeaux wines which were to be on display for visitors from around the world. ...

Wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr. contends that the terroir-based cru classification system has long victimized consumers. He aserts that mediocre wines have sold for too much thanks to their cru classifications and good wines have sold for too little for lack of a ranking. Because of this, Parker says that cru classifications "should be regarded by both the wine connoiseur and the novice as informational items of historical significance only." Robert M. Parker, Jr. ...

See also

• Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
• Berlin Wine Tasting of 2004
• Blind tasting of wine
• French Culinary Institute Wine Tasting of 1986
• French Wine
• geographical indication
• Great Chardonnay Showdown
• Halekulani Wine Tasting of 2000
• New York Wine Tasting of 1973
• Ottawa Wine Tasting of 2005
• San Diego Wine Tasting of 1975
• San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978
• St. Catharines Wine Tasting of 2005
• Wine Olympics
• Wine Spectator Wine Tasting of 1986

Appellation dOrigine Contrôlée (AOC), which roughly translates as term of origin is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, by the government bureau Institut National des Appellations dOrigine (INAO). ... In the Berlin Wine Tasting of 2004, a professional blind tasting was held with 36 tasters drawn from European wine journalists and wine buyers. ... Blind tasting of wine involves tasting and evaluating wines without any knowledge of their identities. ... The French Culinary Institute Wine Tasting of 1986 was conducted on the tenth anniversary of the historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. ... France is one of the oldest wine producing regions of Europe, and also is generally considered to be one of the most prestigious, if not the best. ... A geographical indication (sometimes abbreviated to GI) is a name or sign used on certain products or which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (eg. ... The Great Chardonnay Showdown, held in the spring of 1980, was organized by the wine columnist for the Chicago Tribune newspaper with help from three Chicago wine stores. ... The Halekulani Wine Tasting of 2000 was organized by Artisans & Estates at the Halekulani Hotel in Hawaii. ... The New York Wine Tasting of 1973 was organized by pioneering alcohol journalist Robert Lawrence Balzer. ... The Ottawa Wine Tasting of 2005 was sponsored by the Vendange Institute of Ottawa and included 35 expert tasters. ... In the San Diego Wine Tasting of 1975, twenty-eight experienced wine tasters in San Diego, California, blind tasted eight Bordeaux wines and two California Cabernets from the 1970 vintage. ... The San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978 was conducted 20 months after the historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. ... The St. ... A Wine Olympics was organized by the French food and wine magazine GaultMillau in 1979, three years after the historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. ... The Wine Spectator Wine Tasting of 1986 was conducted on the tenth anniversary of the historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. ...

Sources

• Echikson, Tom. Noble Rot. NY: Norton, 2004.
• Lukacs, Paul. American Vintage. NY: Norton, 2000.
• Taber, George M. Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine. NY: Scribner, 2005.
• Terroir-France What does terroir mean ?.