Terroir Wine Term - French Sense of Place

Terroir is a French term which loosely equates to the "sense of place" that affects a given wine. The French believe that the soil, atmosphere, environment, and other indescribeable aspects of a given location have a profound affect on how the wine will taste. They believe that the exact same vine, grown in two different locations, will have a much different flavor based on those aspects of terroir.

Some believe this French term to be quite meaningful - that "of course" the elements in the soil, the rain patterns, the sunlight patterns, the drifts of fog in a given vineyard location will affect how the wine tastes. Others feel that to call it "terroir" is a little silly, as these same issues affect every single grown item - oranges, corn, grain, and even animals that are grown for food. All are affected by the situations going on in the location they are growing. To them, this is all part of raising food and plants to be eaten.

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