Wine and Place by Tim Patterson

Author:Tim Patterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780520277007
Publisher: University of California Press

NATURE AND NURTURE

If we agree that terroir expression is a product of Nature and Nurture, that human intervention and husbandry are a necessary part of the successful production of a wine, that human involvement nurtures, elaborates, and even amplifies terroir expression, then the next obvious question is how much? When have you gone too far? When is the “nurture” component invasive and overbearing, when does it obliterate the delicate fingerprints of a place?

It’s useful to remember that the recognition of terroir is the result of hundreds of years’ worth of careful human observation and adjustment, with cultural protocols—the human factor—evolving historically, carried on by ritual, systematic practice, generational advancement, and evolution. The process of mastering the sow’s ear can be difficult and protracted, but once mastered the path to the silk purse can fade into the background.

Terroir character is always conferred in hindsight, isolated after years, sometimes centuries of natural expression. Many questions remain: How does one discover one’s terroir? How does one isolate a terroir’s flavor markers and bring them forth? What can the winemaker do to amplify or safeguard its expression? Are there standards of input, or limits to one’s vineyard and winery practices required to preserve terroir expression? How far is too far? Does making high quality wine mean discovering and conserving idiosyncratic elements in your wine or in your vineyard, or will doing so make your product less marketable? What if those idiosyncrasies are characterized as flaws or faults? Are you duty-bound to preserve them?

Responsible winemakers should, we think, conduct trials to get at some of these questions. Whole vintages of trial and error could follow—adopting positive practices and rejecting those that diminished the desired flavor outcome—until an optimal protocol could be designed. In the Old World this would have been done over many generations, with protocols adopted based on the gradual discovery and implementation of the best methodology.

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