The Concept of Terroir

What is terroir? Of course, it’s a French word that literally translates to “soil” but beyond that, it seems to be indefinable. According to a 2007 article in New Scientist1, attendees of a 2006 viticulture conference at UC Davis attempted and failed to define the term.

The French have another phrase: “je ne sais quoi”… Now, I’m no Francophile but I think this concept can shed some light on the French concept of terroir.

I’ve seen the “terroir debate” characterized in many ways: globalization versus localization; science versus nature; industry versus tradition, but all of these characterizations can be reduced down to this simplicity- material versus intangible.

Science in viticulture and enology seeks to discover the building blocks and blueprint that will produce a consistent result, and Terroiristes attack what amounts to a materialistic approach on a variety of platforms. I don't happen to subscribe to the scientific approach with wine but, do some Defenders of Terroir go too far? Maybe Roger Scruton deriding globalization as a vehicle to ordinary drunkenness for the classless and mediocre is clouding the issue.2Perhaps, the reductio ad absurdum depiction of a brave new GM-wine world in a recent Economist article,where wine “tasting” is no longer necessary thanks to genetic sequencing data which tells you exactly what flavors are present in wine is too sardonic but, seriously though...what is the point if you break every thing down to the molecular level?

It’s tempting to go sci-fi at this point with musings on whether androids dream of Red Bordeaux... However, I think there is enough room between the extremes for me to comfortably occupy: Somewhere in the middle ground between gross generalization about drinkers of non-Terroir wine, and the obtuse insistence on defining terroir in scientific terms, there’s where you’ll find me; enjoying whatever good glass of wine I have the good fortune to drink.

1"Terroir." New Scientist 193.2592 (24 Feb. 2007): 54-54. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO.

2 Scruton, Roger. "In Defense of Terroir." American Spectator May 2007: 42+. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO.

I'm just a lucky guy

I was just having an off line communication with Wannabe Wino. I was explaining to her that the name of the blog was Taster B’s idea, it comes from what some guy would whisper in her ear in the tasting room, “…hmmm, tastes like grape.” If you have read my profile and read my welcome page, then you know I’ve been drinking wine for a long time. I’ve come a long way since I’ve found Taster B who has just been a joy to learn to appreciate wine with. I couldn't imagine taking this journey without her. I'm just a lucky guy.

Buying a Refrigerated Wine Cabinet

When we decided to buy a wine cabinet recently, I was surprised to find very little in the way of a Wine Cabinet Buying Guide online. I started at Amazon.com where I did manage to find one or two models with a decent number of good customer ratings. Unfortunately, all of the bad reviews seemed to revolve around shipping problems and damage and horrible manufacturer customer support. With that bit of data, we decided we better shop for one locally. I began scouring websites like epinions, and bizrate but found very few models have been rated at all. I also did a search of the Consumer Reports archives—nothing; Wine Spectator--same thing.

It seemed that any consumer information available was reserved for the upper-end models: I was not going to get any help selecting my McChiller (did I hear somebody say ‘free gun rack with purchase’?). Finally, we decided to hit our local Home Appliance stores where we soon discovered wine refrigerators were not even in stock. Home Depot had a “Magic Chef” unit (yeah, I never heard of it either). My searches yielded a few discussion boards from around 2005 where the majority of Magic Chef owners had picked the unit up on sale for between $149-$177. My HD was selling it for $449. Moving right along…

What have we learned so far?

1. Shipping a wine cabinet can be risky
2. wine cabinets damaged during shipping may take months to get repaired
3. Buying a wine cabinet locally in ‘North East New England’ is not an option

What are we left with? Find a reputable retailer online. That’s exactly what I did. I went to the Wine Enthusiast website where, happily, they have a January free shipping special on a few models. I found a model with 14 good customer reviews. I also opted to purchase the 3 year warranty since most of the rants I read out in cyberspace indicated the trouble started in the 2nd year.

What have your wine storage/cabinet shopping experiences been? Does anyone reading have any recommendations to add or expand on? One tip I found more than once was: Whatever you think your storage needs will be, plan on exceeding it. I know this unit is small but, we are limited by space, and we are in a temporary situation so, it's only gotta get us through the next year or two.

We still have yet to receive the unit. I will definitely post an update here on how it works out for us.

VinoView Silent 35 Bottle Wine Display Refrigerator (Graphite Trim Door) Available at

Medieval Smells Like Grape

Click to animate.

Castello Di Salle Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

We frequent a packie just 20 miles south of us. It’s a bit out of the way, but they have a good selection and have bottles priced by case prices (meaning you get the case price if you by one bottle or twelve). While Taster B was looking for a Pinot Grigio, I put my grandpappy glasses on and snuck over to the Italian section to see what could be found.

I’m interested in operating out of my comfy zone and dabbling into some wine that I never tasted. I had good luck with the Dogajolo so I thought I’d try another Super Tuscan or three. What I found wasn't a Super Tuscan but something from the east central coast.

Okay, I really don’t know Italian wine from Adam’s off ox, so I was relying on the information tags. I found three wines that had great reviews. (I like to rely on my own judgment but in this case, I was happy to get help from Robert Parker, Jr. and Wine Spectator. Taster B says that our tastes agree with Robert Parker, Jr. I know better than to argue with her.)

Let’s take a look at this label. The first thing I notice is that the label is for an American market, it’s in Italianglish. Castello Di Salle is the brand. The bottler is Sallis Castrum and I’d like to provide you with a link but I’m not having much joy. I’ve had two sites refer me to the Ciccio Zaccagnini winery website, however I’m unable to find Castello Di Salle or Sallis Castrum there.

Let’s continue. Riserva is Italian for reserve and we have a red wine. Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is what we have in the bottle. Montepulciano is also a type of wine grape. Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is a type of red wine made from grapes of the same name in the Abruzzo region of east-central Italy. (Okay, I got that sorted. Cool, this is my first Montepulciano d'Abruzzo!)

Denominazione di Origine Controllata, Denomination of Controlled Origin, an upper level Italian wine classification. This defines a given wine's geographical origin, grapes, and production methods but is no guarantee of quality. Now I’m informed that Riserva is a DOC term and indicates a higher valued wine. Here in the states, Reserve has become a bit trite. A comment is welcome on the subject of DOC and riserva. Can we count on this to lead to a higher quality Italian wine?

I did find a useful review of our wine at http://www.linerandelsen.com/newsletter0307.html. I was uncertain about buying a 2001 without knowing if the wine has good bones, but according to this reference, one could lay this bad boy down for 5 more years for continued development. (Yah, we're popping this one open as soon as I can find “old reliable”.)

http://www.villaitaliawines.com/cantina/Wine.asp?idWine=28 also imports this wine and has information posted.

I'm rather happy to present my tasting notes for Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. It was a real pleasure to try something new.

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riserva
Castello Di Salle
Variety: 100% Montepulciano d’ Abruzzo
Appellation: Montepulciano d’ Abruzzo D.O.C.
Vintage: 2001
Alcohol: 13.0%
Price: $11.99

Color: Ruby Red
Intensity: Deep
Aromas: Strawberry, blackberry, plum, violet, rose, earth, oak
Flavors: Blackberry, plum, herbal, allspice, white pepper, vanilla, sandlewood.
Body: Medium
Acidity: Moderate
Sweetness: off-dry
Tannins: Silk
Finish: Moderately long.

Summary: This is a smooth drinking, subtle wine. Pleasant fruit, easy tannins. The wine is like tasting the lazy days of summer when the living is easy. Black fruits of blackberry and plum. This is not a big red cab, no it is a gentle breeze on a lazy day. Everything is balanced, nothing dominates, total harmony.

Pairings:
Drink this by itself, with leg of lamb, Moroccan, rabbit, pheasant, grilled veggies, and with Italian red sauces.

Commenting on Commenting:
We’ve been trying to get commenting to work for a few weeks and I spent Sunday trying to debug the template only to fine that the constants that control the commenting are stored out of the editable part of our skins and templates. If you have spotted an error in this posting, want to leave some friendly Italian wine advice or offer suggestions, please click on the title of this posting and the commenting should become available.

7 Jan 08
Dear Diary,

I bumped into an engineer friend in the hall today. He said that he and his new girlfriend has shared a special Bordeaux together. We struck up a conversation. He said that his favorite Italian wine was a red wine that no one has ever heard of. “Its Mono, no Monton no, that’s not righ...” I said inquisitively, “Do you mean Montepulciano d'Abruzzo?” “Yes!!! That’s it!!!” I told him where he could get it locally. How cool is that?

Champagne and Chinese Take-Out

Happy New Year!

Wine Pronunciation Guide

I just ran across this Wine Lexicon on Robin Garr's Wine Lovers' Page which is a great resource for all those questionable wine pronunciations. I remembered watching a pronunciation primer on Wine for Dummies where I learned, for instance, that Pinot Grigio is pronounced pee-noe gree-joe not 'gree-zhee-o'. Unfortunately, that example is one of the few I retained in long-term memory, so I'm happy to have found a website I can refer back to time and again: Even if I can only properly pronounce the wine style/varietal in a restaurant or wine shop (nevermind the Chateau), at least I've saved myself some embarrassment!

The creator of the Wine Lexicon has created an extensive glossary with definitions, pronunciation, and a sound file--definitely a handy little guide!




Addendum: I also like this Italian wine pronunciation guide (even if it is from a commercial importer).