Tag Archives: terroir

I have the opportunity to tasting new wines once or more a week, and about once a week my colleagues and I at the liquor store have a discussion as to whether or not “terroir” exists. At a convention I recently attended for the liquor store, a respected winemaker made a strong statement that made me rather uneasy. He claimed, “Terroir, which some call dirt, barnyard, haystack, or earthy, doesn’t come from the vineyard but instead from brettanomyces.” (Brettanomyces is a yeast strand typically linked with the “horse sweat” smell found in some ales and wines.) Continue reading →