Irrigation usually enters wine discussions via viticultural practices, water policy, regional regulation, or sustainability. But irrigation also shapes what wine tastes like and what we
Tag: terroir
Is Terroir a Sensory Fact, a Story, or a Critical Practice?
Terroir may be the most important word in wine and also one of the least useful when left unexplained. Some people treat terroir as an
The Hiding-in-Plain-Sight Ligaments of Wine Culture
I don’t know that there is another human sub-culture as bound to habit and convention as the wine community. The wine styles available today—red, white,
The Technology vs. Terroir False Dilemma
Debates that oppose “technology” to “terroir” treat winemaking as a zero-sum game in which each technological intervention diminishes site expression. This framing misdescribes how quality
Terroir as Interpretation: Why Preserving Place is Always a Style Choice
Let’s retire the pious fiction that the winemaker who “lets the site speak” abstains from style, as if terroir were a shy woodland creature spooked
Should We Stop Talking about Terroir?
Before Meininger’s International stopped publishing last week, Robert Joseph, the Devil’s Advocate, published a piece there in which he implored people who sell wine to
Exploring the Philosophy of Food and Wine 