The Terroir of Wine
Jake Ellerbrock '02
Issue date: 4/27/01 Section: Diversions
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Actually, terroir (pronounced Ter-Wahr) is nothing to be afraid of. It is a French term, with no direct English translation, that means the combined effect of all natural factors (e.g., soil type, climate, vineyard slope, direction the vineyard faces, altitude) on grape growing. All of these factors combine to create a unique growing condition, a vineyard’s terroir. As a result, no two vineyards are the same. Terroir even varies within vineyards.
One of the strongest determinants of terroir is drainage. Drainage refers to how well the soil drains off water from either rain or irrigation. As a general rule, soils that have good drainage (those that rapidly disperse water) and that are not particularly fertile produce the best grapes. These two factors stress the vines, resulting in smaller berries and more concentration of flavor (think of more water as diluting the grape’s flavor.)
Terroir, and the grape quality and personality that results, is the single most important factor in making a great wine. Furthermore, how well suited a particular grape variety is to its terroir determines the upper limit of how great a wine can be. As the saying goes, “You can make decent wine out of bad grapes and you can make good wine out of decent grapes, but you can only make great wine out of great grapes.” Most would agree that, thus far, the wonders of modern science have not been able to disprove this saying.
Some vintners will market the vineyard’s name on their wine’s label. This practice is meant to signal the quality and personality of the wine based on the terroir of that particular vineyard. That’s also why vintners will put the name of the region, or appellation, on their wine’s label. That is, many of the vineyards in a specific grape growing region typically have some of the factors that dictate terroir, and therefore characteristics, in common.
I”ll leave you with an illustration of the terroir of a particular vineyard, Beringer’s Chabot Vineyard, to show how this affects the wine’s personality. The Chabot Vineyard is located in the hills of St. Helena in the upper Napa Valley of California. This particular vineyard is on a hill composed primarily of obsidian (yes, large chunks of “black glass.”) As you can imagine, water drains through obsidian like a sieve. This soil composition causes extreme stress for these vines (much like Professor Michaely’s finance core class) and results in highly concentrated flavors that are unique to the Chabot Vineyard. This soil type, when combined with the good grape growing climate of the Napa Valley, creates award-winning wines year after year. In fact, be sure to look for a bottle of Beringer’s 1995 Chabot Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon at the upcoming Charity Auction on April 5th!
If you have any questions or suggestions for topics for the next wine column, please email me at jre23@cornelle.edu
One of the strongest determinants of terroir is drainage. Drainage refers to how well the soil drains off water from either rain or irrigation. As a general rule, soils that have good drainage (those that rapidly disperse water) and that are not particularly fertile produce the best grapes. These two factors stress the vines, resulting in smaller berries and more concentration of flavor (think of more water as diluting the grape’s flavor.)
Terroir, and the grape quality and personality that results, is the single most important factor in making a great wine. Furthermore, how well suited a particular grape variety is to its terroir determines the upper limit of how great a wine can be. As the saying goes, “You can make decent wine out of bad grapes and you can make good wine out of decent grapes, but you can only make great wine out of great grapes.” Most would agree that, thus far, the wonders of modern science have not been able to disprove this saying.
Some vintners will market the vineyard’s name on their wine’s label. This practice is meant to signal the quality and personality of the wine based on the terroir of that particular vineyard. That’s also why vintners will put the name of the region, or appellation, on their wine’s label. That is, many of the vineyards in a specific grape growing region typically have some of the factors that dictate terroir, and therefore characteristics, in common.
I”ll leave you with an illustration of the terroir of a particular vineyard, Beringer’s Chabot Vineyard, to show how this affects the wine’s personality. The Chabot Vineyard is located in the hills of St. Helena in the upper Napa Valley of California. This particular vineyard is on a hill composed primarily of obsidian (yes, large chunks of “black glass.”) As you can imagine, water drains through obsidian like a sieve. This soil composition causes extreme stress for these vines (much like Professor Michaely’s finance core class) and results in highly concentrated flavors that are unique to the Chabot Vineyard. This soil type, when combined with the good grape growing climate of the Napa Valley, creates award-winning wines year after year. In fact, be sure to look for a bottle of Beringer’s 1995 Chabot Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon at the upcoming Charity Auction on April 5th!
If you have any questions or suggestions for topics for the next wine column, please email me at jre23@cornelle.edu