Proof of Terroir…
February 8th, 2010 | Posted by Kirk
Looking at this video from the Cortes de Cima winery in Portugal is a reminder to me how the only real point of difference in wine is terroir – that untranslatable, difficult-to-define French word, which is something akin to the combination of individual place/people/practices where each unique parcel of grapes is created. The winery as seen in the video could just as easily be here in New Zealand, or anywhere.
Carrie Jorgensen
February 9, 2010
Ahhh, so true! Except if you look at the preceding video, where we harvest the grapes, you will see that we are growing our grapes in our own vineyards (which we have planted), and will know that in the winery we are very careful with selected lots from specific parcels where we know from experience that our best grapes are grown – due to this combination of ‘individual place/people/practices, soil and microclimate = or our particular Alentejan terroir!
Hennie
February 9, 2010
That is the ultimate – to plant, to grow, to harvest, to make and to drink! When next in Portugal, I’ll be sure to visit and this time I’ll spend more time in Alentejo! Great video
Kirk
February 9, 2010
Thanks Carrie,
Yours is a good example here – ‘People’ are often cited as a key part of the (modern)definition of terroir – their experiences and the choices they make have a major impact on the grapes.