COVER STORY: In Hot Pursuit of TerroirGauging the influence of terroir on wine flavor

摘要

From its humble origins to protected status, semantics have played a significant role in commonly held beliefs about terroir. A French word meaning land or soil, terroir originated from the Medieval Latin word terra (land) and terratorium (territory).The French phrase "goQt de terroir," or taste of the soil, originally implied a poorly made wine, one considered to be flawed or unripe. Early literary references by the Cistercian monks connect the land to the expression and quality of wines they cultivated in Burgundy, and later accounts dating to the 17th century do the same forBordeaux. But it was the advent of the French appellation d'origine contrdl6e (AOC) system governing wine in 1935 that marked the turning point for terroir.