Dr Vino's wine blog

In a fine Parisian restaurant, a DrVino.com reader recently overheard
an exchange between an English diner and a French diner that went
something like this: the Englishman observed the recent success
of wines from Australia and New Zealand. And the Frenchman scoffed:
“But they do not have terroir!”

What is this mysterious variable that the Frenchman invoked to dismiss the entire production of two countries? Jay McInerney sums
up terroir as “location, location, location.” More than only the soil or the geology of the growing area, terroir also includes the local microclimate such as amount of sun or rain, the winds, the topography of the area and temperature fluctuations.

The general logic behind terroir (pronounced ter-WAHR) is that the more distinctive a grape growing area, then the more unique its wines will be. Consider Bordeaux, where the loose, rocky soil with a slight slope makes it terrible for growing wheat but excellent for growing wine. The breezes from the Bay of Biscay blow over the vineyards and keep the zone temperate. The wild card is the rain at harvest time, which can ruin a vintage. All of this makes Bordeaux wines distinctive, with a bit of mystery from left bank to right bank and from vintage to vintage—but all have the taste of the terroir in the bottle.

Try sampling six Chardonnays from around the world and the differences of terroir will probably be covered by differences in winemaking (those darned oak chips). But try tasting six different Chardonnays from Burgundy where it is easier to control for winemaking differences, and the effect of the growing area, or terroir, is easier to apprehend. The concept of terroir is spreading to other agricultural products too such as coffee or apples that boast distinctive tastes based on their origins. In France, the appellation system, which protects terroirs, now encompasses a wide array of agricultural products from some types of cheese to chicken from Bresse to green lentils from Puy. Contrast the richness that terroir expresses with the caricature of grape growing in a place such as Australia. The vineyards are large, the sun beats steadily all year, and the vines are irrigated. This combination of factors has a tendency to produce a homogenous, undifferentiated, unexciting product. This standardization can lead to unchallenging wines for consumers and direct price competition for producers. It is a difficult game to play, one that relies on economies of scale, which explains some of the recent mergers in the industry. But New World winemakers have also discovered terroir. In the 1940s, Professor Maynard Amerine from the University of California at Davis devised a classification of California growing areas based largely on temperature. Since then, the concept has been refined with other variables added. But the net result is that many California growers have an acute sense of terroir. As evidence, consider all the single vineyard wines that have emerged. The intrigue of terroir also has a dark side, which is the possibility of getting a clunker. Simply because a wine comes from a certain growing area does not solely determine that a wine will be good. Who hasn’t had a bottle of Bordeaux from an unknown château that is awful?! While terroir is not a guarantee, it can offer good guidance.

A recent advertising campaign in US magazines by Champagne producers emphasizes their terroir as what sets them apart from other sparkling wine producers (see sidebar for part of the campaign). This provides a sharp contrast to the firm-oriented marketing strategy
of corporate brands—marketing terroir is not simply a product of one firm’s marketing department, but several producers making a collective pitch around their territory.

Although it is not guaranteed, I would take my chances with terroir over industrial swill. The Frenchman who scoffed at the Australian production probably knew that wine from France and Australia does not fall neatly either into terroir or plonk. In fact, France has its share of plonk although it does have a lot of terroir wines. But Australia and New Zealand also have many distinctive growing areas, such as the Barossa Valley or Marlborough. Sure the wines may not taste like French terroir, but they have a unique taste of where they come from. And they are often very good. So I say “vive la différence!”