Eight Things to Know About “Terroir” Often you hear
wine experts talking about “Terroir” in almost mystical
terms. If you ever asked them to explain what they meant by the
term, they usually assume an enigmatic smile and say, “It’s a
French word – it has no real translation in English.”
And that is where the conversation usually ends. So what exactly is
“terroir” in the Australian context? Here are eight handy
things to know about the concept. 1.
A Definition of Terroir
Terroir in the broad sense is the growing environment of the
grape.
One view of terroir is that it takes into account soil, topography,
climate and human intervention. In short, it takes into account
every influence on the wine. This is the “holistic” view. It
has a certain attractiveness because it tends to explain everything.
On the other hand, this tendency to explain everything might
actually be too true to be useful.
A more traditional view is that terroir only encompasses nature:
matters such as the soil, the exposure to sunlight, the proximity to
the ocean, direction of prevailing winds, altitude and the like.
Proponents of this view see these elements as largely fixed and
unchangeable – beyond the control of humans. This is the “traditional”
view.
A third view is that terroir is nothing more than the soil in which
a vine is grown. This is the “narrow” view.
The Traditional view gives rise to this definition:
“Terroir will be defined as the sum of all the natural
parameters—especially soil, topography and climate—which may
potentially influence the character and characteristics of
wine.” 1
More simply stated:
The natural elements of a vineyard site or a wine region
that combine to give a consistent character to the wine made
from grapes in that vineyard or region.
2. Taste Alone Does Not Define
Terroir Tasting wine is intensely subjective and unless it is
performed in a strictly scientific way, it is fallible. Further,
carefully screened professional tasters will easily discern simple
characteristics (ie: whether the wine is thin and weedy or fat and
blousy), but when more subtle characteristics are involved, two
equally qualified tasters can disagree strongly on such points.
Further, even if the tasting panel agree on a wide range of
characteristics such as aroma elements, concentration of the wine
and colour, a further variable comes into play that can prevent
these characters being ascribed to terroir.
That variable is the lack of control groups growing in different
terroirs. For example, unless the age of the vine, the rootstock,
the viticulture and the winemaking are identical in two different
areas, it cannot be said that the differences between the two
resulting wines are solely due to soil, climate, prevailing wind or
strength of the sunlight being different in the two areas.
And yet, winemakers shrug off the above lack of scientific rigour
and firmly maintain that they can taste the difference between the
same variety grown in different areas. This can be as simple a
distinction as being able to taste the two wines and say with
certainty, “It’s New World” or “It’s Old World.” It
may be a more complex distinction as being able to say, “That’s
West Australian” or “That’s Victorian.” Most winemakers
can hazard a reasonable guess and tell you, “I think that one is
from Margaret River and that one is probably from the Yarra Valley.”
Now, it not that the viticulture or the winemaking is radically
different in those areas. Viticulturists and winemakers are very
mobile these days, and it is fair to say that the professional
standards are reasonably homogenous across Australia.
No, there is something in those wines that gives an
experienced palate a clue as to where they are from. There is some
signature that wines from each area make on the mind of experienced
tasters. It is not from the winemaker and it is not from the
viticulturist. It is from the area itself – and this is “terroir.”
3. Terroir Can Be Amplified By Viticulture and Winemaking
The characteristics normally associated with a particular variety
from a particular area can be amplified by manipulating the vineyard
or the winemaking. For example, one of the common characteristics of
Margaret River cabernet sauvignon are ripe grapes that provide a
core of fruit sweetness to the wines. This ripeness usually means
the cabernets are never leafy or herbal. The wines also often have
earthy tannins. Local winemakers believe that these latter
characters are the product of local terroir and can give great
complexity and structure to the wines.
Viticulture, however, can amplify this ripeness by selective leaf
plucking and shoot thinning in the vines to give better exposure to
sunlight. The winemaker can pick up on this characteristic as well
and wait to pick the grapes until the sugar levels are relatively
high. If this is the case in Margaret River, then it is also the
case in other areas.
4. Terroir Can Be Masked By
Viticulture and Winemaking In the same way that
terroir-induced characteristics in wine can be amplified by human
intervention, these characteristics can also be masked by human
intervention. Thus a viticulturist can keep the vine canopy
relatively shaded to make the wine more leafy. The winemaker can
pick the grapes earlier to take the edge of the fruit ripeness and
sweetness. 5. Terroir Can Be
Reproduced by Viticulture and Winemaking This statement
doesn’t mean the geological formations and weather conditions can be
reproduced somewhere else. What it means is that the characteristics
of a wine from one region can often be reproduced in another region
by interventionist viticulture and winemaking.
For example, the blackcurrant/cassis fruit character often found in
Margaret River cabernet can be manipulated in another slightly
warmer wine growing region by keeping approximately one third of the
cabernet vines a little more shaded and picking them earlier. The
blackcurrant character will be present there, but it will come with
a concomitant leafiness that is not desirable. So the remaining two
thirds of the cabernet crop is more exposed to the sunlight and left
to ripen later. It is then picked and made into wine. The two
portions are then blended together and the blackcurrant character
appears on the nose and palate, but the riper cabernet masks the
leafy character in the first batch.
6. Example of Terroir: Margaret River Now that some aspects of
terroir have been explored, it is useful to see these things in
action. Using the example of Margaret River, it can be seen that the
components of Margaret River’s terroir that give rise to unique
characters in its wine largely revolve around two things:
· The maritime climate, and
· The soil. Margaret River is surrounded by sea on three sides, so
it is no surprise that the climate is “maritime.” The region
has the lowest mean annual temperature range in Australia - 7.6°C
(45.68°F). It also has the most pronounced Mediterranean climate in
terms of rainfall with less than 25 percent of its annual rain
falling between October and April.
The low diurnal and seasonal temperature range means an unusually
even accumulation of warmth. Spring frosts are very rare and when
they do occur, they are very localised. The low temperature range
means that vines sometimes do not go fully dormant in winter
(especially true of chardonnay) and this can cause some problems
that are relatively peculiar to Margaret River. In terms of warmth,
the overall climate is similar to that of Pomerol and St. Emilion in
a dry vintage hence the quality of its cabernet sauvignon.
The vital statistics for central Margaret River where the Killerby
vineyard is situated are as follows:
| Willyabrup (central region) |
|
|
Altitude |
90 m (295 feet) |
|
Heat degree days, |
Oct-Apr 1601 |
|
Sunshine hours, |
Oct-Apr 1661 |
|
Annual rainfall |
1138 mm (44.8 inches) |
|
Growing season rainfall |
253 mm (10 inches) |
|
Mean January temperature |
20.2ºC (68.5ºF) |
|
Relative humidity, Oct-Apr, 3 pm |
Average 57% |
|
Harvest End |
Feb - Late Apr |
7. Terroir Is Probably More About
Nurture Than Nature However “non-interventionist”
winemakers claim to be, the fact is that human intervention is
necessary to make wine. Grapes don’t just fall to the ground and
become wine.
Given that winemaking can amplify or mask terroir, and even
reproduce its characteristics to an extent, a sad fact is that the
expression of the terroir of a region is often going to be more
about the actions of the viticulturist and the winemaker than the
naturally occurring characteristics of the area.
Despite the protestations of many, terroir will be secondary to
human intervention unless that human intervention decides simply to
express the terroir in the viticulture and winemaking.
8. The Terroir Debate Will Continue Until Science Really Gets
Involved The two things that hold back a definitive definition
of the terroir of a wine region are:
|
· |
The lack of control groups of exactly the same vines on
the same rootstock, managed in the same
way, harvested in the same way and made into wine in the
same way, and |
|
· |
The differing degrees of human intervention in different
wineries in the same wine region. |
With rigorous science being applied to control groups of vines in
different areas, true definitions of the terroir of each wine region
will start to evolve. The effect of that terroir can then be
measured for the relative concentrations of naturally occurring
flavour compounds that are unique to that wine region.
Until then, if you are asked about terroir, perhaps it easier to
assume an enigmatic smile and say, “It’s a French word – it has
no real translation in English.”
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