Wine 101 · Chapter 4

Terroir

Why the same grape tastes different in two places.

The flight · Two blind pairs

Same grape, two places

  1. Wine 1 Pair A
  2. Wine 2 Pair A
  3. Wine 3 Pair B
  4. Wine 4 Pair B

Each pair is one grape from two places. What is different, and why?

The reveal

What you tasted

  1. 1 Syrah Northern Rhône Cooler: black pepper, olive, savory, medium to full body
  2. 2 Shiraz Barossa Valley Warm: ripe black fruit, chocolate, soft and full
  3. 3 Malbec Cahors Southwest France, lower and wetter: dark fruit, earthy, firm tannin
  4. 4 Malbec Mendoza, Uco Valley High altitude: violet, bright fruit, fresh acidity

In your deck

Find these five cards

  • Syrah / Shiraz 1 and 2 · Syrah / Shiraz
  • Rhône Valley 1 · Rhône Valley
  • Barossa Valley 2 · Barossa Valley
  • Malbec 3 and 4 · Malbec
  • Mendoza 4 · Mendoza

First

Climate is not weather

  • Climate: what a place does every year
  • Weather: what it did this year
  • Weather shapes the vintage (the year on the label). Climate shapes the style.

The climate cards

Heat and cool

  • Latitude: farther from the equator, usually cooler
  • Elevation: higher is cooler
  • Diurnal range: the gap between day and night temperature. Cold nights keep acid.
  • Maritime: near the sea. Water evens out the temperature.
  • Continentality: far from the sea. Hot summers, cold winters.
Diurnal Range

The ground cards

Soil is mostly about water

  • Clay holds water
  • Limestone drains well but holds some water deep down
  • Drainage: loose, stony soils let water run through
  • Slope: more sun and faster drainage
Drainage
Altitude lets a warm place make fresh wine.

Cards · The Match

Explain the place

  • Lay out five Region cards: Burgundy, Marlborough, Mendoza, Rhône Valley, Barossa Valley
  • Use the nine Terroir cards from tonight
  • For each region, pick two or three that explain why its wine tastes the way it does
  • One sentence each

Take it to the table

Why this one?

"What makes this wine special? Can't I get something just as good for less?"

Name one real thing about where it grows: cold nights, a steep slope, a soil. Skip "quality."

Study this week

Tonight's cards

Grapes

  • Syrah / Shiraz Syrah / Shiraz
  • Malbec Malbec

Regions

  • Rhône Valley Rhône Valley
  • Barossa Valley Barossa Valley
  • Mendoza Mendoza

Terroir

  • Latitude Latitude
  • Elevation Elevation
  • Diurnal Range Diurnal Range
  • Maritime Maritime
  • Continentality Continentality
  • Limestone Soils Limestone Soils
  • Clay Soils Clay Soils
  • Drainage Drainage
  • Slope Slope

Pull these from your deck. Read two a day. Before next week, find one of these wines on a shelf.

Wine 101

Next: Chapter 5 · Winemaking

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