In an interview for the Discover Paris newsletter Paris Insights,
Miamian Juan Sánchez (proprietor of the wine boutique La Dernière
Goutte in Paris, France) speaks on French versus American wines.

DP!: Is the French concept of terroir (the notion that wine is an
expression of its soil and climate) something that you endorse? This
is a concept that many Americans don’t seem to understand or embrace.

JS: Yes! It is what makes French wines and is the number one
difference between French and American wines. No doubt about it. If
American winemakers want to progress in the quality of their wines,
they will need to get more of the influence of the soil into their
products. Of course, they already have soil. But they need to get
the expression of that soil into the wine. I am not talking about
quality, because quality is subjective. American wines are well made
and they have a specific style. But I prefer French wines because
they have a lot more depth and
this comes from the soil.

Find this interview and more on French gastronomy in Paris Insights -
An Anthology.
Visit the Discover Paris! web site – www.discoverparis.net/premium.html
– for more details.

On Sat, 17 May 2008 03:02:34 -0700 (PDT), Tom Reeves
> wrote:

>DP!: Is the French concept of terroir (the notion that wine is an
>expression of its soil and climate) something that you endorse?

>JS: Yes! It is what makes French wines

I have absolutely no doubt about this at all. Not that many here, I
suspect, will doubt that a wine can reflect the land upon which it's
grown.

Two anecdotes
1 Tasting Nuits St George wines at Domaine Henri Gouges. They use the
same clones of Pinot Noir throughout their domaine (except where the
white sport is grown). They vinify their wines in the same way. Yet if
you taste Nuits St Georges 1st cru Les St Georges against the two
other 1st crus Les Porrets and Les Pruliers, all three are noticeably
different, and yet they are all three on the same hillside, aligned in
the same direction. The ONLY difference between the three plots is the
soil, and that because of the amount of water run off from the cliffs
above.

Tasting barrel samples of the wines destined to become Moulin des
Dames white at Ch Tour des Gendre. The estate grows the Sauvignon
Blanc grape (same clone) on three different parcels, they all have
different types of limestone. The resulting wines are completely
different, with one (grown over very hard limestone, into which the
roots have difficulty penetrating) really quite similar to some New
Zealand SBs. So here are two examples of the same clones of the same
vines vinified the same way, showing differences that can only be due
to the parcel on which the vines are grown.

I'm not drawing inferences about desirability or otherwise, but merely
confirming that the concept of terroir has validity.

As Mike Tommasi says, however, it's difficult to see how the concepto
f Terroir can have meaning if the roots don't penetrate deep enough
into the soil to interract with it.

--
All the best
Fatty from Forges

I'll second Ian's post. I would like to (once more, yawn) point out a
tasting in the cellars of Coche-Bizouard, where we tasted all their whites,
all (exception of a St Romain 2003) had undergone the same treatment (oak 18
months, same degre of tasting, same ratio of new/old barrels) and the
differences were very marked indeed, from the minerality of St Aubin to the
butteryness of Meursault.
Another example would be the Rieslings of Dirler-Cadé. although here there
were some difference in vinification, I think ...
Howev er, recently returned from Bourgogne, we visited George Fourrier in
Gevrey-Chambertin. Fourrier has, for various reasons, stopped using new
oak - his reasoning appears mainly be on the lines of bioconservation.
arguing against chopping down oak trees that will take generations to grow
back - and, here, we tasted a line of his 2006. To my mind, the differences
were less marked the "higher" on the appelation ladder you got - clearast
difference to my nose (not a particularly good instrument it has to be
admitted) was on the village level, between Gevrey and Morey St D.

Cheers

Nils

"Nils Gustaf Lindgren" wrote .........
>
> I'll second Ian's post. I would like to point out a tasting in the cellars
> of Coche-Bizouard, where we tasted all their whites, all (exception
> of a St Romain 2003) had undergone the same treatment (oak 18 months, same
> degre of tasting, same ratio of new/old barrels) and the differences
> were very marked indeed, from the minerality of St Aubin to the
> butteryness of Meursault.

You'll get no disagreement from me, either.

A few months back, I was in Marlborough, visiting the rather prolific Saint
Clair Family Estate.

They produce a total of eleven separate Sauvignon Blanc labels.

Most interesting is their "Pioneer Block" range - every one produced from
single vineyards in the Marlborough region - some adjoining each other.

A very good web site is at - http://www.saintclair.co.nz/wines/

Generally, the vinification remains quite constant - juice pressed with
minimal skin contact; fermentation in stainless steel at cool temperatures
to retain fruit flavour and freshness etc. - but having tasted all eight SBs
in this range, the differences are marked and not altogether subtle either.

Terroir is alive and well in NZ

st.helier