The French terror!

Or rather, terroir. A quintessentially French term with no English equivalent. Scared yet?

It is impossible, I've come to learn, to have a conversation about French wine without the use of this term. And more impossible still to discuss wine with the French without a basic understanding of terroir. A brief and exceptionally inadequate description, terroir is considered to be the holistic combination of soil, local topography, and the interactions between the two which determines each sites unique terroir reflected in it's wines consistently from year to year regardless of variations in methods of wine making - or "somewhereness." Founded on the conviction that there is a perfect place for making wine, where the soil and the weather and the knowledge of the ages (tradition) combine to produce truly great vintages. The French have taken this notion so literally they have divided France into 450 different wine appellations (legal wine districts) based upon terroir.

Now, why do we need to know what terroir means? Well, it helps to explain why many French wines (or any wine for that matter) can taste ever so slightly distinct or unique in aroma or taste from other wines of the same varietal and region. Or maybe it's so you can learn a fancy new word to throw into bar conversation to make you appear très intelligente. It's also a great way to justify the abasement of a detestful wine - "...it has no terroir!" *spit in disgust*

Now, at this point I had intended on taking a wine and describing how terroir related but I just cannot stand long blog posts. And if you're like me your attention span cuts off at paragraph three. Stay tuned next time when I take a classy Châteauneuf du Pape and (attempt to) demonstrate it's terroir. What is Châteauneuf du Pape??? Read my next posting and find out!

To learn more about terroir, read the comprehensive philosophical writings of Dubos and Laville. If you're feeling lazy, refer to this wine forum of experts who contend to explain this centuries old term: click here.