Terroir is a product of both the natural and human environments. Van Leeuwen and Seguin focus on the natural environmental aspects of viticulture, providing a structured approach to understanding the conditions of the vine. This type of analysis may be extended to any plant, however. I especially am drawn to the agronomic questions of horticulture: how does the plant interact with the place? How deeply do its roots extend, or how does drought impact the plant's physiology? Terroir addresses the responses of living organisms.Feel free to relate your comment to our class tasting of wines and spirits from California and China.
--Brent W.
“three centuries ago, a consumer who enjoyed a bottle of Lafite could visit the vines which produced the fruit, know when the wine was made and bottled and meet the people in its production." (pg139)
ReplyDeleteCornelis Van Leeuwen and Gerard Seguin spoke of the different attributes of terroir in this article. The beginning spoke of a simpler time of wine making where a bottle of wine came from one estate and a person could visit this winery and see it being done. Classic single vineyard wines like these I believe have the strongest sense of terroir. Because these grapes are only grown on one plot of land they would have a deeper taste of the surrounding area, giving the wine a bigger appreciation of terrior. Although single vineyards are not as common as they used to be, most terroir enthusiasts prefer these to larger blended wines.
Molly.O
"Wine is an essential element in eating and drinking especially in Mediterranean regions. because vines (like olive trees) have low agronomic needs in terms of mineral and water supply, farmers used to reserve richer soils for creals and grazing and planted vines on poor soil..."(The Concept of Terroir in Viticulture pg.138). The soil and terroir is what truly gives the wine its life. When wine originated it was so much more then just a complement for there meal, but an overall lifestyle beverage. The land was utilized in the best possible way, it wasn't about the best bottle, it was about keeping food and surviving.
ReplyDelete-Kyle B.
"Terroir is difficult to study on a scientific bases because many factors are involved, including climate, soil, cultivar and human practices, and these factors interact."
ReplyDelete- Van Leeuwen ans Seguin pg. 137
This quote from the abstract of the article sums up the entire thing. I think that this best follows the concept of the entry because it identifies that human practices are an important part of terroir. Where a product grows down to the soil, water and climate have everything to do with its terroir, as well the intelligence of the farmers. Humans being a large part of terroir is probably the hardest point for me to get a grasp on or try not to fight against. Through our conversations in class and the readings some statements have been made that terroir is only in some place and that it is noticed with history. I do not agree totally with some of these statements which makes it a hard article for me to not fight against while I read it. I believe that anything that comes form the ground has terroir, although it might be more noticed in some.
- Jessica M.
“It is important to consider the human factor in terrior because no vineyards exists without the intervention of mankind. [ ] Because vines (like olive trees) have low agronomic needs in terms of mineral and water supply, farmers used to reserve richer soils for cereals and grazing and planted vines in poor soils, either because they were shallow or stony, or because there were located on steep slopes.” (Leeuwen and Seguin 138)
ReplyDeleteThis quote exemplifies the reading because it explains one of the most fundamental factors of terrior which is that it is the characteristics which are created by the grapes being grown in places where normally there would not be any agricultural use for the land. Rocky, mineral heavy, well draining, soil on steep slopes can produce great wine but it would produce terrible tasting and insufficient quantities of other agricultural products such as wheat, or corn and it would not have any value as grazing land for cattle.
I thought the reading was very interesting and gave an in depth look at the effects and the causes of terrior. The history of the Haut-Brion and how it helped to start the formal instigation of terrior and its effects on wine was interesting considering in Germany, just to the north of France their wine quality system is traditionally based on the amount of sugar in the wine must and has nothing to do with the geographic location of the vineyard. But this could also be considered a part of terrior because in France the ripening of grapes in taken for granted because of their climate and their latitude. While in Germany it is farther north than any other growing region and is farther north than any southern hemisphere vineyard is south. This means that it is much harder to bring grapes to full ripeness so a wine with high sugar content that has not only ripened but become extra ripe is rare and prized. The same thing might be said with California, they have no problem ripening their grapes so they are able to focus on other quality factors including terrior.
Philip R.
“However, great terroir emerges only when socioeconomic conditions are favorable to the establishment of quality oriented wine production” (Van Leeuwen 137)
ReplyDeleteTerroir refers to the factors that give wine from a certain area its own personality. Terroir can be determined by many factors, such as: geographical location, weather, climate, exposure to sunlight, and the type of soil were the vines are grown.
I found the quote above very interesting because I had never thought of terroir in that sense. I find it fascinating how Van Leeuwen and Seguin not only give an in depth look at the main factors that determine terroir, but that they also considered socio-economic factors to be part of terroir. Wine production is a very expensive craft, and it will only be successful wherever there are proper means for production.
Claudia H.
"It is important to consider the human factor in terroir because no vineyard exists without the intervention of mankind" ( Van Leeuwen 138).
ReplyDeleteThis article touches on some very vital and important points when explaining terroir. I like that it took all the basic terroir contributors that we initially think of and breaks them down even further. For example, the article breaks down climate in to mesoclimate, topoclimate, etc. Through these we can see not only factors but as a way to help choose the best suited locations for growing and understand why they are what they are. It then gets into the soil, geology, and water systems that can also not only be a factor to know, but a tool to use in making an area work. Most importantly I think is the mention of humans in the terroir. Of course there is only so much we can control, but it was humans who first started cultivating the vines and it is they who took into account all these factors, as they learned them, and manipulated them to work for them and to the best of their ability. I think that terroir is very much misunderstood by many people. It shouldn't be looked at as factors of the land and surrounding area that must be molded to. It should be looked at as an advantage to take all we know about those factors and implement the best ways to utilize them. I think as time goes on the new world will be able to combine with the old world and use terroir in ways that we never thought of.