115. What Is Terroir? Breaking Down Wine's Most Untranslatable Word

Episode 115: What Is Terroir? Breaking Down Wine's Most Untranslatable Word

Host: Joanne Close Episode Length: 9:37 Release Date: June 11th

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Level 2 Mock Exam Bundle

If terroir and how climate, soil, and site come together to shape a wine's character is the kind of topic that makes you want extra practice before exam day, the Level 2 Mock Exam Bundle is built for exactly that. It includes practice questions modeled on the real WSET Level 2 exam format, helping you test your understanding of these foundational concepts before you sit the real thing.

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Episode Description

Joanne is recording this episode from a tiny stone cottage at the top of a mountain in the south of France, and the setting could not be more fitting. This week she tackles terroir, a word every wine student encounters early on but one that resists a single tidy definition. Rather than offering a textbook answer, Joanne breaks the concept down into its parts and walks through how each one shows up in a glass of wine.

She covers the building blocks of terroir, including climate, soil composition, topography, aspect, and the human decisions that go into farming a vineyard. She also touches on how France's appellation system is really a reflection of terroir, and how newer wine regions like the United States are still discovering and defining their own.

Using her current surroundings in the Languedoc as a live example, Joanne talks through the wind, the limestone soil, the wild herbs of the garrigue, and how all of it ends up reflected in the wines made from this specific patch of land. It is a grounded, personal take on a concept that can otherwise feel abstract.

What You'll Learn in This Episode What Terroir Actually Means

Why there is no direct English translation for the French word terroir
How terroir refers to the combination of factors that create a wine's unique sense of place
Why terroir is not one single thing, but many factors working together

The Components of Terroir

Climate, including rainfall, sunshine, and wind
Soil composition, drainage, and color, including how dark soils like the galets of Châteauneuf-du-Pape retain and reflect heat
Topography and aspect, including elevation and proximity to rivers or the sea
Vine training methods and vine density
Grape variety selection and vineyard decisions

Terroir and the Appellation System

How France's appellation system reflects recognized terroir over centuries
How appellations get more specific moving from a broad region down to individual sites, using Burgundy, the Côte d'Or, Pommard, and Volnay as an example
How newer wine regions are still in the process of identifying their best sites

Terroir Beyond Wine

How the concept of terroir also applies to cheese, tea, honey, and single malt scotch
New research into soil microbiomes and how they may influence the resulting style of wine

Terroir in Practice: La Clape and the Languedoc

How wind, including the mistral and tramontane, shapes the vineyards of this region
How calcium-rich limestone soil and water reflect in the minerality of local wines
How the garrigue, with its wild lavender, rosemary, and herbs, contributes to the aromatic character of wines from this area

Episode Highlights and Quotes

"Terroir is poetry, and it is a combination of all the parts of a unique part in the world and the wine that it makes."

"One big important factor about terroir is that it cannot be replicated. You could try to take the same grape in the same climate, planting it on the same soil, aspect, elevation, all those things, and you may get something similar, but you're not going to get a replication of this specific wine."

"If you were doing your WSET studies, you could be nodding your head right now, because those first few chapters of that level three book essentially talk about these components that go into terroir."

Quick Reference: The Components of Terroir Component What It Includes Climate Temperature, rainfall, sunshine hours, wind Soil Composition, drainage, color, nutrient content Topography Aspect, elevation, proximity to water Viticulture Vine training, vine density, farming decisions Grape Variety Which grapes are planted and why Resources Mentioned

Châteauneuf-du-Pape and its galet stones
AOC Burgundy, the Côte d'Or, Pommard, and Volnay as examples of appellation specificity
La Clape, the wine region near Joanne's location in the Languedoc
WSET Level 3 textbook, early chapters on terroir
Level 2 Mock Exam Bundle for practice ahead of the WSET Level 2 exam: https://joanne-close.mykajabi.com/offers/xeXeiyop/checkout

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About Wine Educate

Wine Educate is a WSET Approved Programme Provider offering internationally recognized wine certification courses. Through the podcast, Joanne Close makes wine education accessible to everyone, breaking down complex topics into practical, easy-to-understand lessons. Whether you are studying for your WSET certification or simply want to learn more about wine, you will find the guidance and knowledge you need to enjoy wine with confidence.

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