A Sense of Place – Nick’s take on terroir

You’ve probably noticed when in the wine shop that some bottles clearly state the grape variety – Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay etc. while other wines are a bit more mysterious and just give a wine name and/or region. Why is this you may ask. The main difference is largely due to a combination of tradition, regulations and marketing

Traditionally European wine regions such as France, Spain, Italy and Germany identify their wines by their place of origin rather than by the grapes used to make the wines of that region. The grape is just one part of it, albeit a major part. The French have a word “terroir” which, although at first sight, may seem like just the soil, but is essentially the soul of the wine – the deepest source of the wine’s identity. Terroir is the combination of many things; the climate, the biodiversity, the land plus the culture and human traditions of the region. The grape is just one part of the overall symphony.  Chateauneuf du Pape for instance is allowed 13 different grape varietals now that would certainly make for a fairly cluttered label wouldn’t it and would we be any wiser for it?

Our now retired manager Matt has gone to live in Burgundy and he can wax lyrical on the subtle and nuanced differences of wines that use the same grape and are but a stone’s throw away from each other but have a different topography, history and  wine maker. The wine maker is making a Burgundy not a Chardonnay.

To varying degrees most of us have experienced and recognised terroir although not necessarily by name. Many of us come back from holiday and rave about a local wine that we’ve had. We often don’t know the name of the wine and we rarely know the grape variety but we know we loved it. That wine was a product of that area, the environment, the people and the particular pleasure of that moment. It was wine doing what wine does best, it’s most important job, bringing pleasure, who cares about the detail!

Terroir, therefore, is that backbone of authenticity in a wine that stops it from being an industrially produced glass of grape based booze and instead gives us literally a taste of the commune, the village, it’s origin and history, in essence a wine with a sense of place. So next time you are in the shop why not go on a bit of an adventure; have a Bardolino and take your mind and senses to the shores of Lake Garda or a Loire white wine and lose yourself in the various châteaux of the “garden of France”.