On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:45:53 +0200, Mike Tommasi >
wrote:

>Finally there is the wine sense, which in a way incorporates both
>previous meanings, where "terroir" is the set of all natural and human
>factors that influence viticulture and winemaking: climate, soil,
>geology, hydrology, techniques and know-how.

I have seen that definitiion before, but I think it is more usual to
use terroir to mean the soil, rock, local toppgraphy and macro
climate. IOW the factors that are not easily controlled by man and
which are unique to the location. The concept would normally exclude
grape variety and winemaking.

IMO the more general definition you used has the problem that it
includes everything to do with making wine, and as such becomes
practically meaningless. For the general definition to have any
meaning at all, it woudl have to assume that the grape and winemaking
choices are traditional for the region in some sense.

--
Steve Slatcher
http://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher