The nostalgia for terroir
By Joe Hyam
Which is more important: the grape variety or where it is grown? Jancis Robinson has long advocated the importance of variety. Yet she very properly reminds us in her new Guide to Wine Grapes (Oxford University Press, £8.99) that factors other than variety affect the taste of wine.
There are: the weather; methods of vine growing and wine making; soil and subsoil; topography; and climate - what the French call "terroir" - and what in the old days most drinkers saw as the only significant factor in a wine's taste and style.
How different things are now. In the 10 years since Robinson published her first book on grape varieties - the pioneering Vines, Grapes and Wines - producers have stepped up varietal labelling and even the French, and specifically even the Burgundians, are beginning to name the grape on the label. What is more, you now find local varieties such as Tempranillo on Spanish labels, and Sangiovese on Italian, in addition to the traditional internationally-adopted French varieties. Varieties such as Grenache, Mourvädre and Viognier, hitherto known only to local producers, are beginning to be more widely noted and respected for their individual qualities.
Some of the mystique has been transferred from terroir to the grape itself. In restaurant wine lists grape variety is important because customers have got used to it as an indication of taste. New World producers and supermarket back-labels and displays have seen to that. So if you are looking for a last-minute Christmas present for a restaurateur or sommelier, Guide to Wine Grapes would be a perfect choice.
It is small enough to fit the pocket, and the A-Z reference is accessible enough for instant boning-up. There is also a list of geographical names indicating the varieties used when they are not mentioned on labels.
Some customers and some restaurateurs, meanwhile, may welcome an escape from varietal hype. For them, let me recommend a wine merchant which believes in the traditional virtues, and mentions variety only in connection with the relatively few New World wines which it lists. It uses the old-fashioned heading claret (rather than Bordeaux), and it is prepared to age its carefully selected clarets until they are ready for drinking.
You could, if you wished, list its 1989 Château Vieux Montaiguillon (trade price £81.60) and the 1990 Château Dasvin-Bel-Air (£88.20) under a Cabernet Sauvignon heading. You could even list its 1994 Brouilly Domaine du Levant (£70.80) or its wonderfully complex 1994 Morgon (£64.80) under a Gamay rather than Beaujolais heading. But it would be misleading, because these wines effortlessly argue the case for "terroir" rather than variety as the important taste factor.
They would be ideal for the mid-price section of a traditional restaurant list, where customers expect structure and balance rather than voluptuous fruit and less-than-subtle tannin.
The merchant is Bower & Co (0171-353 5384), the wholesale division of El Vino.
