Archive for the ‘Terroir’ Category
I’ve mentioned this organization a number of times because I think it might be doing the most beneficial wine reporting in America right now. Appellation America is on a quest to define terroir has on the character of wines in various spots across America and Canada. This kind of work hasn’t really been done before except in private tastings and in anecdotal references. While I personally think terroir is much more than the soil and climate, I also believe that…
CAN THE FLORA AND FAUNA THAT SURROUND A VINEYARD CONTRIBUTE TO THE TASTE OR AROMAS OF A WINE MADE FROM THAT VINEYARD? The answer is yes. The classic example used in California is the instance of a vineyard that might have eucalyptus trees surrounding it. In this case, people have claimed to detect a distinctive "minty" quality in the wine that is attributed to the oils from the tree adhering to the grapes and being transferred to the wine. Another…
Ken Garret has an interesting article in the Australian paper The Courier-Mail in which Terroir is the topic. Early on, Garret goes on about the various ways terroir is defined and it struck me in reading that one can tell a lot about the person by understanding how they define "Terroir". Consider the following definitions of Terroir…and what they tell us about the Definer 1. Real Terroir Only Exists in FranceMeaning: They own a French Vineyard or only drink French…
Appellation America, that intrepid organization that is attempting to identify unique regional signatures that can be identified in wines, has posted its commentary based on a comprehensive tasting or Carneros Pinot Noirs that was conducted at Bouchaine Winery a few weeks ago. As I suspected, the analysis is a bit disturbing: "Over time, wine makers in Carneros began to sense that they had to work diligently to get higher scores through elimination of the distinctive terroir components that had marked…
I’ve been trying to follow the exploits of AppellatlionAmerica.com as the newly energized organization has embarked on an ambitious program to investigate America’s most important appellations and answer the questions: What do wines from these regions taste like and why do they taste that way? Essentially, AppellationAmerica is searching for terroir. The organization undertakes "Discoveries" in which winemakers gather to taste through their region’s wines and try to get at the heart of them. I took part in the Carneros…
