Randall Grahm on Terroir #2

“Somewhereness. For a European it is everything. You need to come from somewhere and probably your family has been in that somewhere for years upon years; you need to know where you stand in a hierarchy, where you fit in. In our New World egalitarian, meritocracy, it doesn’t matter where you came from, it’s what you have achieved. New World wines are really all about achievement; they are vins d’effort, rather than vins de terroir.” Randall Grahm from the article on AppelationAmerica.com: Randall Grahm on Terroir This is post #2 relating to Grahm’s paper. You can find post #1 here.

“Somewhereness”, what a concept. It is this almost mystical concept that really defines what makes wine interesting. That feeling you have when you taste a wine that really sings of a certain place at a certain time: the combination of vineyard and vintage. A wine that does not have this sense of “somewhereness” may be an attractive beverage to wash down a meal, but it is nothing more than a beverage. Wine only rises to challenge the intellect when it possesses a sense of place.

Equally interesting is Grahm’s comment, “New World wines are really all about achievement; they are vins d’effort, rather than vins de terroir." That’s the American spirit: I can do it if I just try hard enough - no matter what kind of terroir I own or manipulation I have to do. This is why “points” have become the defining measurement for wine quality. Points measure that effort on a quantifiable scale and we need to have a firm hierarchy. A messy mix of different terroir characteristics that shine because of their differences just don’t make for a  a firm ranking of quality and that’s just not good marketing. Literary descriptions, no matter how well done lack this firm sense of ranking that insecure American consumers seem to need.

What makes terroir driven wines more interesting to drink is the very fact of the differences: like them or not.

Randall Grahm on Terroir - Santa Cruz Mountains.

Comments

[Eric Quanstrom]

Craig,

You've picked up on two very important, salient points of this article (and two of the main reasons why we published it!). The "somewhereness" that is terroir is absolutely one of the driving forces behind our site. We actually shorthand much of our Appellation Discovery Program (http://wine.appellationamerica.com/wine-tasting-index.aspx) process by calling it "mapping the terroir" of America.

And who knows... perhaps with the unlimited space granted by the Internet, the literary description might just make a comeback! The long-form discussion of wine -- which, BTW is what makes Wine Blogs like yours so popular-- is not as dead as some would believe. Where better to argue the nuances and complexities of one's favorite wines than online? I personally view this all as necessary steps in the wine industry's evolution.