The Terroir Issue

Whilst Australia holds the claim for some of the oldest vines in the modern world, in the grand scheme of fermented grape juice we are only infants - Our wine history can only be traced back to the early 1820's cuttings of wine pioneer James Busby. In contrast, French wine production can trace its roots back over 2000 yrs to that of the ancient Roman societies, with wine having evolved alongside much of France's modern cultural history.

The result of these disparate histories is that the French have a richer appreciation of wine's complexity, in particular the different factors that can affect the way a wine tastes. The most important (and contentious) of these is known as Terroir (pronounced Tear-WAH) a French term that has no true English translation (which only adds to the aloofness) but is roughly translated as 'a sense of place'.

The premise of this notion is that the geography of a local environment can have an effect on the final product, giving rise to the applied term 'gout de terroir' or 'taste of the earth' - That is, we taste the region, the vineyard & the soil, the grapes (and hence, the wine) are then an expression of the environment in which they are grown.

The reason why this notion is contentious is that terroir is the backbone of French wine law. The Appellation d'origine Controlée (AOC) is the French Wine classification system that (theoretically) groups producers together by their geography, with strict defining laws about where grapes can be grown, when they can be picked, how much each vine can yield, how long the wine is matured for and even how much alcohol the final wine can have!

In this fashion, the principle terroir of each AOC area is preserved, leading to a vinous expression of the local environment, not what grape varieties are produced in that local environment. This is like the control tyre in Formula 1 - by having the drivers all drive on the same tyre, it is the drivers natural ability and driving style that becomes apparent, not what rubber they are driving on.

Theoretically this expression of 'place' is the ultimate goal in wine production. However, whether this actually produces the finest of wines is another point of contention, particularly when applied to the wine producers of the new world (Australia, NZ, America etc).

Penfolds Grange is the perfect example of this, as a blend of grapes (usually Shiraz with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon) sourced from vineyards all over South Australia, with the different vineyards and regions utilised changing every year to suit. The finished product is arguably the worlds finest Shiraz, yet terroir plays no part.

For a further example we move to the world epicentre of fine sparkling wine, Champagne, France & Moet's famous super premium Champagne - Dom Perignon: Drunk by James Bond & Jay-Z & purported to be the 'finest wine in the world', yet produced from a large spectrum of vineyards that similarly change every vintage according to demands. It remains as one of the finest Champagnes in the world and is priced accordingly, yet, again, consistency and 'house style' take precedence over individual vineyards or terroir (although it can be argued that the terroir is that of the Champagne region itself).

What can't be denied is that the same grape, grown in different regions will taste differently. (For an excellent investigation of this, check out this video from Campbell Mattinson, author of The Wine Front) Further, the same grape, in the same region, produced in exactly the same way, yet grown on different sides of the same valley can produce wines that tastes differently - A notion that is the very essence of terroir and is definitely not confined purely to the vineyards of France.

Australia may lack the archaic wine history, yet we have the old vines. Our major producers do eskew regional character in the quest for consistency, yet our small to medium sized, (often) family producers can proudly call themselves terroirists. Look at the magnificent Tyrrells single vineyard Semillon's as the perfect examples of celebrating 'a sense of place' - wines produced from vineyards that are bare kilometres apart, that look identical, produced in a near identical manner, yet taste distinctively different, thanks to their varied meso climates and soil profiles.

The key ingredient of terroir then is simple, and completely outside of man made control: That wines from a unique region, subregion or vineyard are incapable of being reproduced outside of that area. That despite all the edifices of modern winemaking, we will never be able to replicate the intricacies of Geography and its 'flavours'