Terroir - Is it Real?

Spell check doesn’t recognize terroir. If I let it, it would substitute the words terror or terrier. French spell check, on the contrary, is happy since terroir is the word for soil. Like spell check, there are people who don’t believe terroir exists in wine. They see it as a figment of the wine seller’s imagination. “No wine drinker, no matter how knowledgeable, can taste and recognize the flavor a vineyard’s soil in its wine,” the skeptic will say. Some will liken it to voodoo and the more the term is used (or overused), the louder the skeptics become.

Many accept that terroir exists, but only in the classic delineation of Burgundian vineyard sites that began in feudal times. Often they are mystical about it and are resistant to the idea that it can be understood. I have heard it said, “Terroir describes, what cannot otherwise be described.”

Matt Kramer, in his excellent book Making Sense of Burgundy, thoroughly addresses the notion of terroir. “It sanctions what cannot be measured, yet still located and savored. Terroir prospects for differences. In this, it is at odds with science, which demands proof by replication rather than in a shining uniqueness.” While I know Kramer would not deny that wines outside Burgundy reflect their vineyard site, he makes a strong case for Burgundy being its highest expression. He attributes this to a “mentality of terroir” which celebrates differences and accepts ambiguity.
While I find myself drawn to Kramer’s viewpoint, I think it can be shown that terroir exists on Spring Mountain just as it does in Burgundy. Beyond that, it’s as a strong an element in Spring Mountain wines as it is in wines grown anywhere in the world. Since I know many might want to argue that point with me, I think I need to explain what brings me to that conclusion. This will require a little science and logic, but not so much as to spoil anyone’s enjoyment of the mysteries of terroir. Rest assured, it cannot be explained by mathematical formulae and a great deal of ambiguity will remain which we can all embrace. Looking at the things that influence terroir does, in fact, make one appreciate its nuance that much more.

I guarantee that a mentality that celebrates difference is alive and well on Spring Mountain. One needs only to visit and spend time with a group of our winegrowers. The “mentality of terroir” is important to anyone who owns a vineyard on Spring Mountain. No winegrower on Spring Mountain looks to duplicate the wine of a neighbor. While a vineyard and a winery are a business, there is not a single vineyard owner in this appellation who looks solely on their winegrowing in the commercial sense. There are many ways to make money with far less risk and far greater monetary reward. There are, however, rewards from a vineyard beyond money. To some, a wine that exhibits a taste of their special place is reward enough.

If terroir does exist, then what causes it? Can it be explained?

I think we have some clues that tell us what factors influence terroir although the exact wine chemistry that speaks to "place" will long be illusive. I believe that this taste of place comes from every aspect of where a grape is grown. These factors are, principally: Soil and Climate and Weather. While climate and weather are important, most people who study terroir focus on the soil as most important variable in defining terroir. I am so inclined. Beyond these three factors, and by my definition of terroir, the practices of the winemaker and the vineyard manager are excluded. I also exclude the grape variety, clone, and rootstock. I see terroir as the flavor of a particular place that comes through in a wine irrespective of the many things we do in the vineyard and winery.

We usually think of terroir in reference to a single vineyard or a small close knit group of vineyards with common characteristics. It is harder to attach terroir to a growing region, though we may see the region as a collection of terroirs which have some common characteristics. On Spring Mountain we readily see differences from vineyard to vineyard that are solely related to location. But as we gain experience in the appellation with repeated tasting of many vintages, we also see common traits that we can attach to the region.

Jac Cole, winemaker at Spring Mountain Vineyard, made a great analogy the other day. While he acknowledged that terroir exists in reference to a vineyard’s specific soil and site, he pointed out there are common threads in wines from the different vineyards in the Spring Mountain AVA. “It’s like a symphony orchestra, composed of different instruments each with its own sound and unique part, yet together they all play to the same score and in same key. The key and the score that our vineyards play in this AVA is Spring Mountain.”

Many questions remain. Particularly, how do these factors contribute to terroir? I’ll look at one of those things, soil, next. Meanwhile, many people would have a different definition of terroir than I, how do you feel?

(photo above is Big Rock Vineyard, Pride Mountain Vineyard, Spring Mountain)