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Terroir. The Role of Geology, Climate and Culture in the Making of French Wines
JAMES E. WILSON, 1998
London, Mitchell Beazley
336 pp., L30.00 (hbk)
ISBN 1 84 0000333 3
Introduction
The author starts by telling us that his book is about answering two questions "Why do the fine wines of France grow where they do?" and "How is it that one vineyard yields superior wine, while its neighbour that appears the same does not?" The general principles occupy some 15% of the book; 2% is a glossary of geological-geographical and 'wineland' terms; and 83% is a discussion of individual districts "where the wines grow". By limiting himself to France, James Wilson has sensibly confined himself to a country where most wine districts have a long history and hence are likely to be settled in their characters. There are modern geological maps available at a scale of 1:50 000 for the majority of vineyards (not true of Germany, for example) and much of the geology is relatively simple in broad outline
Terroir
Terroir is a concept which originated in France. It is difficult to think of another country where it could have started, since it has features so characteristic of second-class French thinkers: a combination of the obvious (the quality of a plant depends on where you grow it) and the mystical, a view expressed by Colette (who was first-class when she was writing about human beings): "La vigne, le vin sont de grands mysteres. Seule, dans la regne vegetal, la vigne nous rend intelligible ce qu'est la veritable saveur de la terre" (quoted by Lachiver, 1988, p. 7).
There is a common American attitude which likes to have a quantitative picture of a problem, giving it a scientific cachet, without worrying too much if the underlying assumptions are valid: hence the popularity of the Californian `degree-day' concept for the quality of wine. It is therefore especially interesting to see how Wilson treats the subject because he has combined a career as an industrial geologist in the USA with an intimate knowledge of French vineyards. His book has a great deal of geology in it and is attractively written, and the inclusion of the history and culture of each region makes the whole a...