Terroir Experiment

Two bottles: Guy Bossard Muscadet "Gneiss" 2005, and Bossard Muscadet "Granite" 2005. Same vintage, same winemaker, same clonal selection, different soils. The Gneiss is lighter, the Granite is richer, each shows variation in mineral quality. This is the most straightforward argument I've seen yet in defense of the notion of terroir.

Hmmmm.. I thought. Perhaps it not terroir, but a reflection of when the grapes are harvested, but since I am not at all familiar with this wine I Googled and found this: http://www.kysela.com/loire/ecu.htm. Looks like a terroir thing. So, you may be right (I may be crazy).

I'm a believer--always have been.

Hmmmm.. I thought. Perhaps it not terroir, but a reflection of when the grapes are harvested...

There is always that, plus the slightly different yields, elevage, etc. But still, the different soil types do seem to produce different types of wines and one could do a lot worse than exploring Bossard to make this point! Great wines.

I should point out that I have been a skeptic regarding terroir. "Tomatoes don't taste different just because the soil is different" was often an opening conversational gambit. But grapevine roots go a lot deeper than tomato roots, and SOMETHING is going on...I will see if I can find any information regarding harvest dates...

Hmmmm.. I thought. Perhaps it not terroir, but a reflection of when the grapes are harvested, but since I am not at all familiar with this wine I Googled and found this: http://www.kysela.com/loire/ecu.htm. Looks like a terroir thing. So, you may be right (I may be crazy).

Thanks for the terrific link there Howie. The word "terroir" is gonna bring `em out man! Get ready for some action.

I'm a believer--always have been.

I'm a believer also, but it's something I've learned about with experience and I don't believe all claims. However, the notion was really demonstrated this past June when the NiagaraCOOL group toured Cave Spring Winery in Jordan, Ont. Tom, one of the owners, took us to 3 different Riesling vineyards, each miles apart with different soils, slopes and microclimates. We then tasted wines from the different vineyards and they were each distinctive.

I'm a believer--always have been.

I'm a believer also, but it's something I've learned about with experience and I don't believe all claims. However, the notion was really demonstrated this past June when the NiagaraCOOL group toured Cave Spring Winery in Jordan, Ont. Tom, one of the owners, took us to 3 different Riesling vineyards, each miles apart with different soils, slopes and microclimates. We then tasted wines from the different vineyards and they were each distinctive.

Howie,

I became a believer especially after working with Riesling in the Finger Lakes. The many different vineyard sites within the same micro-climate offer variations that underlie the overall regional qualities. That's what the term "gout de terroir" really refers to--the character of the wine from individual vineyard sites.

I remember when the owner at Cave Springs visited the Finger Lakes in the 1980s, when he was getting started. We spent a lot of time talking, and he was convinced back then.