Unbiased Scientific Approaches to the Study of Terroir Are Needed!

Abstract

Terroir is a French term with roots in the Latin term terra meaning ground or land. In the international wine jargon, the term has assumed a more specific and nuanced meaning: it is the result of "collective knowledge of the interactions" between the environment and the vines mediated through human action and "providing distinctive characteristics" to the final product (i.e., wine; OIV, 2010). Terroir is not just a geographical site, but includes: (i) the physical environment (e.g., climate, geology, soil, and topography); (ii) the biological material and production practices; (iii) cultural, socio-economical and political aspects. Nowadays, the storytelling of terroir is abundant in both the popular press and marketing of wine. Although there is no reference to wine quality in the description of the terroir concept (OIV, 2010), wines which may be associated with a single vineyard are often deemed superior, although wines derived from multiple sites may also be highly regarded (Bramley, 2017). According to OIV, 2010, which should be considered an accepted definition, terroir is a loose interpretation of a protected designation of origin (PDO), thus questioning the need for a winespecific term. For example, in the regulation of the European Union (EC No. 510/2006 Art. 2.1(a), Council of the European Union, 2006), in order to benefit from PDO status, an agricultural product needs to: i) originate and be produced, processed and prepared in the defined geographical area and ii) have "quality or characteristics essentially or exclusively due to a particular geographical environment with its inherent natural and human factors." The concept of geographical origin can be used in all crops and foods, and PDOs are defined and regulated. Conversely, the terroir interpretation applies mostly to wine and is not regulated, which leaves it open to abuse and self-assessment without control, scientific evidence or socio-historical recognition (Matthews, 2016). As a result, in the current popular use, the term terroir has erroneously become jargon for vineyard site. A designation of origin is a strict regulation. In order to maintain characteristics related to the place and the traditional practices, PDO products are made according to production standards, and are evaluated before introduction to the market, to ensure conformity to the important and distinctive characteristics that are the reason for the designation. It should be clear that, when

Making sense of a sense of place: precision viticulture approaches to the analysis of terroir at different scales

“…Sadly, this is a process that in some regions has arguably become captive to wine writers and marketeers with many of the 'stories' characterised by a lack of underpinning science and/or focused on variation in a single attribute (Bramley, 2017). A similar comment could be made in relation to much of the popular commentary on terroir more broadly (Brillante et al, 2020).…”

“…Conversely, if terroir is expressed quite differently by different varieties, then the problem becomes much more complex than it already appears. In both Marlborough and the Barossa, the effects of climate change will doubtless also need to be considered (Petrie and Sadras, 2008;Brillante et al, 2020;Salinger et al, 2020).…”

“…Conversely, the analysis of biophysical variation reported here suggests that a finer delineation of regional terroir should perhaps be treated with caution. Brillante et al (2020) have recently called for the use of unbiased approaches in terroir research, highlighting for example, the merit of abandoning arbitrary climatic limits for the production of fine wines that express their place (van Leeuwen and Seguin, 2006) and instead seeking better understanding, on a location-specific and scale-appropriate basis, of the factors that impact on wine characteristics. Similarly, White (2019) has bemoaned the fact that whereas water, N supply and soil temperature may be claimed to be the major factors driving the soil component of terroir in unirrigated vineyards (van Leeuwen and de Rességuier, 2018), there remains a lack of quantitative understanding of relationships describing the effects of these factors on terroir.…”

Underpinning terroir with data: a quantitative analysis of biophysical variation in the Margaret River region of Western Australia

“…For obvious reasons, it might therefore be suggested that establishment of territorial branding may be especially difficult for New World wine countries, equally so for regions within them, and extremely difficult for subregions within these. Attempts at improved understanding of terroir might therefore be better directed at improved management of grape and wine production (Bramley 2017, Brillante et al 2020) than at marketing objectives.…”

“…Much previous research into these factors, especially in the context of terroir zoning, has relied on a mix of heuristics, rules of thumb and qualitative expert opinion of the merits of the wines produced in particular regions. Brillante et al (2020) have recently argued, however, that terroir research should be based on unbiased approaches. Thus, rather than focussing on conformity to previously defined terroir units (e.g.…”