One of the first things you learn when studying the wine industry is that there’s a French word for just about everything in this field.
While the number of terms can sometimes be daunting, there’s one in particular that I like, though: terroir. It’s roughly defined as: “The complete natural environment in which a particular wine is produced, including factors such as the soil, topography, and climate.”
I take a more holistic approach to terroir, though.
The thing about wine is, it’s always different. Buy a case of the same Pinot Noir produced at the same winery in the same vineyard in the same year in the same… well, you get the idea. Open one bottle on a cool day and drink it by itself. Then, open another on a hotter day and have it with a bowl of pasta. Open one, let it breathe for an hour. Two. Or not at all.
Each of those bottles will taste different. That’s because wine – at least the best wine – is kind of a supporting character in each of the situations in which it finds itself (yes, I’m a filmmaker, can you tell?) To expand on that metaphor, great supporting characters elevate the movies or shows they’re in, while average or mediocre ones are forgotten.
It’s the same with wine. Paired right, it’ll make that steak or fish really come alive, and allow that overall meal experience to be heightened past the point it would have reached on its own.
Take that a step further. You’ll read a lot about travel on this blog, because wine is very much a product of where it comes from. One of my favorite regions right now is the Sonoma Coast, because it’s cooler (you’ll learn that I have a predilection for cold weather wines on this blog) but also because I swear you can taste a hint of salt from the ocean (not unlike an island Scotch – something else I’ll talk about eventually here). Understanding where wine comes from can really help you understand what wines you like, and I’ve often found that I love the land as much as the wine that comes from it. So maybe it’ll help your travel bucket list, too.
That’s how I view terroir anyway – the particular blend of everything that goes into the bottle, as well as everything around it when you take a sip from the glass for the first time. And that is why my approach to wine will often involve food and travel in equal doses to the wine itself.
