What is Terroir?

Terroir is the French term literally meaning ‘soil’ or ‘earth’, generally referring to all the physical and environmental characteristics in and around a particular vineyard site that are imparted into a wine such as climate, soil composition, geographical location as well as slope, and aspect of slope.

Without a direct English equivalent, terroir specifically refers to the consistent, distinctive qualities in a wine that are not due to grape variety, or the skills of the grower and winemaker. Terroir plays a large role in defining specific geographic wine regions.