Keeping Tabs on Terroir

As I surf the current state of the Wine Web I collect links to interesting things that I hope to offer up to readers. Occasionally something just gets lost in whatever is the digital world equivalent of the cracks between the sofa cushions. That's why I haven't posted anything about this extremely interesting article on some of the current thinking about the concept of terroir

Written by Roger Bohmrich, it explores much of the debate over the meaning of the term. Also, and perhaps most importantly, it dives into some of the complexity of the issue, especially when one attempts to describe terroir as something more specific than the lovely shorthand "somewhereness" which Matt Kramer has coined.

Ultimately, if terroir is really to mean anything (and plenty of people INSIST that it not only means something, but means nearly EVERYTHING when it comes to evaluating the greatness of a wine), it must be more specific than a nice turn of phrase.

This article is a good starting point for both understanding what has come before and where the debate is going. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about how to talk and think about wine.

Posted by: Alder on April 8, 2006 9:28 AM: Tweet; Share this post elsewhere: Digg it! - Add to del.icio.us - Add to Stumbleupon - Add to Reddit; Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News

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Comments (3)

Iris wrote:

04.09.06 at 8:49 AM

Thank you very much for this link, Alder, it is one of the most complete articles I read about the subject!

Tyler T wrote:

04.09.06 at 2:46 PM

Bravo Alder for bringing this to your readers who may not otherwise browse the Wine Business Monthly pages. Bohmrich does take an excellent approach to the terroir discussion.

Tracy W. wrote:

04.12.06 at 9:37 PM

Interesting article. I think the aspect of wine being influenced by terrior is an exciting topic which makes wine drinking/tasting interesting and fun.

I find it to be deliciously frustrating to think I have a firm grasp on a terriors influnce on taste and then read excerpts from the Appellation Discovery Program at appellationamerica.com and see (taste) that I am still so far away.