The SOMM Journal

June / July 2016

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24 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } JUNE/JULY 2016 { bottom line } LATELY I HAVE BEEN FEELING A dis- turbance in the universe. The profession of sommelier has been under fire, which is not surprising. The number of working sommeliers has increased significantly in recent years, which leaves all of us even more open to the stigma that has always been associated with the trade: Sommeliers are snobs, sommeliers are arrogant, som - meliers are the cause of ridiculous restau- rant prices and, apparently, numerous other things "wrong" with the wine industry. Speaking of wrongs, recently I found myself taking flak for suggesting that a newly published book, entitled Terroir and Other Myths of Winegrowing (University of California Press), is not entirely copacetic. According to the author, Mark A. Matthews, a Professor of Viticulture at U.C. Davis, terroir is a crock essentially because "min - erals derived from rocks may represent a relativ ely small part of the soil's impact on plants," and "mineral nutrients have no established contribution to flavor" in wines. Because of that, Matthews concludes, ter - roir is nothing more than a "shibboleth that establishes an in-group in a world unto itself . . . This isn't wine appreciation . . . it is more like wine snobbery." Aside from the professor's value judge - ment, the idea that there is no direct correlation between flavors in wines and minerals in soil is nothing new. We have published articles in this journal explicating this very issue. Matthews errs, however, in his interpretation of this observation. Most of us (I can't speak for everyone) who speak often of terroir are not talking about "flavor" uptake from soil. We are simply talking about the direct influence of physical attributes of a given vineyard or region on the sensory qualities of wines. You know, the things that make, say, a clas - sic Chablis taste lean, lemony and minerally, whereas a Carneros-grown Chardonnay tastes fuller, fleshier and intense in floral tropical fruit. By Matthews's implication, we "terroirists" would have everyone believe that Chablis tastes minerally because of min - erals in the calcareous soil of Chablis, and that Carneros Chardonnays taste tropical because there is papaya, mango and pas- sionfruit growing under the ground. I'm no agronomist, but that doesn't make me stupid. Yet somehow, the myth of somme - lier imprudence persists. One of many responses to my online objection to Matthews's thesis, and I quote: "For every levelheaded article you write about 'sense of place' some jackass is writing an article about tasting dirt. Master Sommeliers insist that the 'blood' note is the result of iron in the soil. Which is another problem: Terroir is almost completely attributed to soil . . . I believe that the influence of the sun, when the grape sees it and doesn't and the result - ing temperature dynamics create a huge diversity in a small area. How many somms, writers and even winemakers are open to the idea that something other than soil can be the predominant factor in 'place'?" Ahem, all of us? Who among us are not cognizant of the impact of topography, aspect, elevation, latitude, climate, tempera - ture, wind and endless other natural fac- tors—not to mention typicité contributed by grower (choice of grapes, clones, vine train- ing, pruning, picking decisions, ad infinitum) and, of course, winemaker decisions—on our best and most interesting wines? The simplest, and still most accurate, defi- nition of terroir is "sense of place." No one says "sense of dirt." If some people think sommeliers do, maybe we need better PR. I'm more concerned about the concept of terroir-driven wines. If there is an element that believes it is more important that wines express "varietal" character or winemaking technique instead of the special places they are grown, then we really are in trouble. Although the fact of the matter remains, you cannot sprout a Chablis in Carneros, and vice- versa. No matter how many times you blink, terroir is that giant elephant in the room. Still, I can't fathom the likes of a Tempier, Mouton, Scharzhofberger, Fiddlestix, Rued or Original Grandpère going the way of minotaurs, unicorns or Tinker Bell. But many lesser known yet distinctive, worthy wines could fade away for sheer lack of love, if we let them. All the more reason to be a sommelier! HAVE SOMMELIERS BEEN COMPLICIT IN SPREADING THE MYTH OF TERROIR? by Randy Caparoso Sense of Soil PHOTO: NEKO92VL VIA THINKSTOCK

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