Here's a wine fact for you - the French word 'terroir' has no direct translation into English. So, what’s it all about? Well, it's more of a concept than a tangible thing. In terms of wine, it’s the idea that certain factors - such as the kind of soil the grapevines are grown on, the direction in which they face, how much sun they receive and the microclimate of the patch of land they're grown on - all have a huge impact on the flavour of a finished wine. Fact or fiction?‘Terroir’ can be a contentious subject. For wine lovers, disagreements about what makes a good wine are frequent and hotly disputed. And, while you’d struggle to find a French (or Italian or Spanish) winemaker who doesn’t agree that a good wine must have a ‘sense of place’ - that where it’s grown ultimately defines its flavour - not all would agree.  In New World winemaking countries, you might still be able to find some winemakers who, like James May, believe that the concept of terroir is just ‘cobblers’. In the past, New World winemakers have tended to believe that it’s the grape variety and the way in which the grapes are handled in the winery that have the greatest effect on the final taste of a wine. Some New World producers have mocked their European counterparts for trusting in terroir, believing it to be too ‘unscientific’ to have any merit, dismissing ‘terroir’ as ‘just dirt’. Terroir takes hold However, most winemakers who once thought that believing in terroir was akin to believing in Father Christmas have changed their tune. Most now admit that, as a concept, terroir’s not quite as old-fashioned as it seems, and have changed the way they grow their grapes and make their wine as a consequence. Next time you’re shopping for wine, take a minute to look at the labels and you’ll see that, as well as Chardonnay from, say South-eastern Australia (which covers thousands of square acres), you’ll also find Chardonnay from much smaller designated areas in Australia, such as Mornington Peninsula or Cowra. Grape varieties are still prominently written on the labels of New World wines, but the region they come from is also prominent. You’ll also notice that, broadly speaking, wines from smaller designated areas tend to cost significantly more than bottles made from grapes from a wide catchment area. But before you dismiss ‘terroir’ as a marketing ploy, taste and decide for yourself. Taste for yourself To test the terroir theory, buy three bottles of wine, all of a similar price and from the same vintage, from three distinct regions in one country (the advice of a friendly wine merchant would be a help here). Taste the three samples side by side and see what you think. Same? Or different? ‘Cobblers’? Or not?
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