Terroir Musings

Left bank Bordeaux- terroir by design ?

I have been reading Jean-Robert Pitte's book Bordeaux Bourgogne - Les passions rivales and have found some interesting ideas on terroir (as the French would have it).

Far from being something eminently mysterious and bound in with geology, geography, climate and a little sorcery by the winemaker thrown in, the author posits that terroir is in fact a fiction, albeit a very plausible one, created over the centuries by the vineyard owners of France, in particular those of Bordeaux and Burgundy. He uses some striking analogies to make his point: would the brilliant virtuoso violinist point to the wood of his Stradivarius to explain his performance, or the sculptor explain his work of art as the product of the pure Carrara marble he is sculpting ? Likewise the sage old owner of a premier grand cru or a classed first growth will point to his vines and argue that outside of this place no great wine can be made. This is the false modesty of the winemaker assuring us that he is responsible for only 10% of the wine's standout qualities.

The predominance of Pinot Noir in Burgundy - down to Philippe le Hardi and his dislike of Gamay (decree of 31 July 1395) happened more or less by chance, yet the bourguignons will swear that great wine can only be made from the former grape, which can be quite temperamental if not cultivated in the right way. This temperamental nature is both a good (in the right hands) and a bad thing : after all a bad Bourgogne rouge can be very bad indeed, overcropped as the vines producing the grapes going into it might be, on a very bad stretch of land. Perhaps Gamay is not so bad after all. If you are familiar with the better winemakers in the Beaujolais and elsewhere you would be tempted to think so. A well made Beaujolais is a fine drink and will keep too. The stars of the show, all other things being equal, are the vine growers and wine makers aided and abetted by a large number of wine professionals and wine connoisseurs who have a vested interest in ensuring that Burgundy, Bordeaux and Champagne (there are other wine regions of similar standing) continue to be identified with high value, high quality wines.

The notions of terroir and appellation, supposedly guardians of quality (and this is true to some extent - preventing the mixing of wine from Algeria or the southern Rhone with passtoutgrain to produce Burgundy) have been used as a means of of increasing and preserving the value of land on which certain vines stand. Many restrictive practices have contributed to this in the past ensuring for example that the wines of Bordeaux and not Cahors reached the markets of northern Europe. Now appellation rules and prohibition of planting in the EU perpetuate the status quo. Since phylloxera many potentially great wine regions have been lost and unless they are still within appellation boundaries will remain so forever.

Happily English wine now has the opportunity to rival these so called great terroirs 'touched by the Gods'. Our Montrachet or DRC is somewhere to be found and will be made one day by an exceptional winemaker. The lack of restriction on grape plantations is a great freedom currently enjoyed here and should be used to the full. Alas, knowing the EU's propensity for regulation it may be restricted in future, so gather ye rosebuds while ye may. There is a unique opportunity for English growers and winemakers to create a rival to the great wine regions.

Recently planted English vineyard

Of course terroir in England is all about nosing out a good site, where grapes will ripen consistently without being wiped out by frost or rotted by fungus, not some old bit of field not used for anything else. Naturally if you are into sparkling wine then of course cuttingly acidic grapes are to be praised and sought out, but the fruit must still be good. Is it possible to produce a great wine on a useless site ? Maybe once in a blue moon but not consistently.

My view of terroir is that you must first and foremost find a good winemaker in tune with his land (he knows it like the back of his hand), his vines, the weather, on a good site, and you will have a chance of finding a good if not great wine. The label on the bottle will give you an idea of what to expect but is no guarantee of a great wine experience. There is no substitute for curiosity and meeting the winemaker.