TERROIR TRUTH - THE WINE EXPERIENCE

This video is going to be special and pretty challenging because the term Terroir is difficult to capture. Only for you, I have tried to collect all the vital information on this topic so that I can tell you everything you need to know about TERROIR. The main problem with Terroir is that it is not clearly defined and therefore means different things to different people. The term terroir comes from France and its roots are the French word Terre - which means region or soil which is already the first reason for confusion because soil and region are two very different things. Reading through the definitions, there are really two approaches to Terroir, and one of them is wrong in my opinion.
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[@goodwinegal]

I'm a big fan. Stay funny. I'm going to share you with my community 💖

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you Good Wine Gal!

[@fanatiek1]

As a winelover, for years I thought Terroir was about the grape, the soil and the climate. Never had I include the winemakers interventions. I remember the case of Château Valandraud in the nineties where the owner Jean Luc Thunevin had placed plastic on the ground between the vines and his wine was declassified for not following the rules of the AOC. As I come to think about it...how stupid could I be? Learned something new again. Thanks Konstantin.

[@comesahorseman]

Soul drainage is another factor that's not usually discussed specifically. Grapevines generally dislike "wet feet"; and correct soil drainage means the vines themselves will have to work hard, if not struggle, for water and nutrients. Vines under these conditions will focus less on vegetative growth and more on ripening fruit, which usually means more flavorful wine. This is a *very* complex subject, my friend. Thanks for this overview! 👍

[@majorsaloca]

Again a very educational and accurate video. Romanticism can be appealing but also misleading. Good to have someone who thoroughly explain such concepts. Great job 👏

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks Rui! Stay thirsty!

[@negyed9656]

Very interesting. MY GRANDFATHER USED TO MAKE WINE IN SPAIN . I NEVER LEARNED ANYTHING ABOUT WINE 🍷. THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO.

[@carlcadregari7768]

Excellent description. It is the grape, the art, the viticulture, the history, the people and the land.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks Carl!

[@dontyoudareidiot]

Jesus christ! Feels like your Avant-garde Idea broke down my stereo type. I'm just a wine drinker in South Korea, but your expanded definition of Terroir makes me think further about it. Thank you so much and I hope you make more videos. It really helps me.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@sleasy69]

I'm thankful you moved to making English videos. You make getting into wine fun and approachable!

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you!

[@DanKlompstra]

Great video. I really find the application of Terroir and Appellation in cannabis (or the direction thereof) to be fascinating. Really like your insights into these processes.

[@andrewkarl5174]

“ man I should be an artist “ almost shot wine through my nose. Love your videos

[@greggbull9543]

Another excellent video, nice to see a Jon. Jos. Prum in the background too. Cheers 👍🏻

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you!

[@ClaireWaddington]

This was a brilliant explanation thank you

[@jimdandy6452]

Excellent video, thank you! I've experienced some great old-world wines and have come to understand subtle differences terroir imparts to many (not all) of those wines. I live in the US in Washington State and have traveled and tasted extensively up and down the west coast and while many winemakers talk about terroir it's virtually absent in most wines here in my opinion - which I suppose is why you'll mainly hear the term "Fruit Foward" tossed about.... some great are made here but I just can't find much to talk about regarding terroir in them.

[@douglasjaviermancia33]

I have a small coffee farm and I realize that the vineyards are a great example to learn, in the sense of highlighting flavors

[@lilithkeogh60]

The culturalist approach of terroir must extend even further; to the mind of the drinker, the glass, and the stomach acidity of the drinker. I think even the naturalist definition is too wide. When I hear terroir I think of soil, and I like to keep it simple like that. I do enjoy that you bring up the discussion, though, and I’m sharing this video on my Facebook. 👍🏻

[@jakoblinden426]

Very interesting video and channel you've got going Konstantin, keep up the good work! I've just started studying wine at the university in Sweden and really appreciate all the knowledge combined with humour that you're providing us with. Discovered your channel a few days ago and have been stuck ever since. For a future episode of two, I would appreciate if you talked a little about your tasting techniques. I've moved away from the beginner's point where wine smells and tastes just like, well wine but I still have a long way to go before I'll be able to identify all different aromas and can blindly identify most grapes, regions and appellations. Expect for trying out another few thousand bottles of wine, how can I best improve my ability in this practical (and interesting!) part of getting to know more about wine? Also, would appreciate some videos about fortified wines such as sherry and Port and also destilled beverages, if you're up for it. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you Jakob!

[@giopotskhverashvili]

Hello Konstantin, could you speak about becoming MW in one of the upcoming videos? How did you prepare to become MW, maybe you remember the wines you had at the blind tasting, interesting/hard questions at the theory exam and etc. anything about becoming MW would be interesting :)

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Good idea! I will look into this

[@smoker_joe]

As a French guy, I'm always surprised that terroir is an obvious concept for us, and so understandable in other countries.

[@steakaddict5150]

Excellent explanation thanks

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thanks!

[@xterroir5391]

Excellent video - " A great winemaker shows respect to the natural influences that have shaped the smell and the taste of the grapes and tries to conserve them in the wine". Cultural interventions should be in support of this not in a fight against the nature of the terroir.

[@BradySD1]

New here. Keep all your videos coming. I feel like I should be paying for this kind of expertise, lol.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Deal!

[@07sta]

Great video as usual. Thanks for sharing, the discussion around terroir is getting really heated in Italy too, especially along the rise (or return) of indigenous yeast and no temperature control in wineries. In relation to these what's your take? Can in your opinion industrial yeasts be expression of terroir?

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Good point! This is a complex topic ... I think it depends on where you draw the line. Is it ok to use French oak or add nutrients to the soil? Maybe worth looking at this in a follow up video.

[@07sta]

@@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine I guess it has to do with semantics and ultimately gets very personal. The discussion is polarising on extremes, stretching from the naturalist side it would even be impossible for wine to be produced, on the other side allowing too much human intervention would end up with associating the term with all sort of commercial amenities. Can't wait for your next video, cheers!

[@urbanevintner105]

I'm wondering about vinho verde. I checked your playlists and didn't see on for Portugal. I would love to hear what you have to say. -Brian

[@michaelosborne9279]

I think the truth is somewhere in between, for the term to have any meaning. It can't mean that the winemaking process is irrelevant. But it can't be blanket term for just everything that influences the outcome of the wine. Ideally you'd want to be able to make value statements like: 'I prefer the Rousseau Chambertin to the Dujac [made up example] because less of the work is done in the winery and I can still tell it's a Chambertin rather than just a very good wine from burgundy, i.e. terroir shines through'. Or 'I love tasting horizontals of Leroux PMs' [again made up] as you can track the weight down the slope'. Otherwise if terroir is everything all you can say is 'this vintage of this specific wine tastes like the other vintages'.

[@domewines]

Great content. Is something that i would like to develop on my KZbin Channel in the next future. Thanks for the video 😉

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Thank you Domenico.

[@domewines]

@@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine thanks to you Kostantin

[@lovesgibson]

Great video. To play devils advocate for the natural terroir idea/theory: wouldn’t their idea of terroir explain why DRC romanee conti would taste different from DRC richebourg. They’re both Pinot noir made by the same winemaker, but they don’t taste the same, and I suppose they would say because the terroir of the different plots of land is different. Would that make sense? Or do you think there are other factors like maybe the winemaking process is different for each, or that each plot of land is compromised of vines from a different origin? Sorry if my comment doesn’t make sense. I’m not expert. I’m just wondering if that would be an example defending the idea of “natural terroir”

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

You are right - the vineyard location is important but if two wineries would make wine from the vineyard Romanee-Conti would these two wines taste exactly the same?

[@elijahumogilevsky7004]

So if there will be some winemaking approaches that can't be, at least not easily, replicated in other wineries, than these approaches have to be included into the terroir definition. For example, if the winery ferments and matures the wine in amphorae made of local clay and burried in the earth for keeping it at constant temperature. Or if the local climate makes preferable conditions for specific types of micro organisms influencing the process of fermentation and maturation, like the example of Manzanilla. The question is should it be a normative rather than descriptive approach for quality oriented winemaker? E.g, should the winemaker ask herself "How to express best the given terroir?" or "How to create as much singular characteristics both at my vineyard and winery as possible, and then to express it the best I can?"

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Tricky topic.... The use of Amphora is easily replicated all around the world. I kind of agree with your point on Manzanilla. Regions in Europe often have pretty strict rules on how to approach winemaking: Fermentation verssels, aging periods, alcohol level, dryness, filtraton .... And they all impact the expression of the wine but I think that Terroir is not supposed to be the term that covers all influences that have made the wine what it is. Instead it should be about the influences that have impacted the development of the berries.

[@NielsLieman]

IMHO terroir is anything related to the fruits/plants before harvest. After harvesting I would say it is part of the transformation from fruit to wine and therefore not terroir anymore. BTW I love the wines of Marcel Deiss the original terroirist😊

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Yes, that seperation makes sense.

[@jd892]

So I guess you could say "TERROIR" means "style (of grape growing and wine making) resulting in quality and complexity". But I think what most people mean is "the wine taste good AND complex". Complexity also usually signifying a variety of flavours including "non-fruit" flavours and "earthyness". But when tasting wine and saying "this wine has terroir" it basically means this wine is good to high quality and has variety of flavours including non-fruit flavours and earthiness THEREFORE this wine was made with a skillful and effective "style". If a particular region, vineyards and style of wine making result in a high quality but ONLY fruit forward/Oaky wine I doubt people would say "it has terroir" DESPITE it being made in a particular style. Tldr: Terroir means style but when Tasting it means Complexity (Variety of Flavours including secondary +tertiary flavours aka non-fruit flavours and earthyness)

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

Terroir means origin. If a wine shows its Terroir it tells you that the wines origin comes through in the wine.

[@hanssalim3410]

yooman

[@daniobevasdellio7066]

As I've heard from a respectable winemaker: Wine that's called "100% natural" is called vinegar

[@daniobevasdellio7066]

A part from that: I still prefer the "naturalist" definition of terroir, but It has to be always remined that terroir alone doesn't define a wine, there's also a very big stake of human imput.

[@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine]

:) A wine without human input would be rotten grapes

[@spudpud-T67]

Terroir is a French marketing term. "If it not made in French terroir it's not decent wine", their reaction to great wines being made outside of France. The new world doesn't start to promote terroir until it has a region of proven quality. This is to their determent as it is to the French in the first place. Terroir is an ethereal feeling and should be discounted for what it is. Think two apposing armies riding into battle crying "God is with us".

[@redwithblackstripes]

Thoses strawmen arguments you are producing have that distinct north american terroir that is for sure.

[@spudpud-T67]

@@redwithblackstripes Or maybe a Southern Hemisphere origin, more for sure. Good point; terroir is a perfect example of a logical fallacy

[@zizzie4081]

French confusing? Impossible