Many wine lovers will have heard this word in the wine vocabulary. When we ask ourselves what the terroir (French) of a wine is, it's easy to assume the term comes from the soil, but what does it refer to? The first thing to keep in mind is that a good wine comes largely from the land in which the vine is grown. In today's post, we'll simply explain what terroir is and why it's so important.
Terroir is the dialogue between the plant, the land, nature, and man. It is a set of factors that define the region where the vineyard is located. A good wine conveys and transports you to its place of origin. At Colline del Vento, we consider ourselves fortunate to be able to work in contact with nature, respecting the environment and the land where our vineyards are located.
The first thing that determines terroir is the soil. The characteristics of the land where the vines are located have a direct influence on the wine we make. The peculiarities of each type of soil will create differences in both the vine and the wine produced. Some of the factors that have a direct effect are the altitude of the land, soil moisture, the orientation of the vineyard, its slope, and the soil composition. The quantity and type of minerals present in each soil have a direct influence on the grapes and thus on the wine.
Our soils are predominantly granitic, weathered, at an altitude of 230/250 m, with an east/west exposure. The result: a unique product, a high-quality wine from a privileged land.
The second important factor in defining terroir is climate. The type of climate will have a direct influence on each wine, making it very important to consider humidity or dryness, hours of sunshine, frost, temperature differences between day and night, rain, or wind intensity. Our vineyards in Villasimius are exposed to a warm and temperate climate, with mild temperatures and moderate to non-existent rainfall.
Finally, to understand what terroir is, we must consider the human factor. It will be the wise decisions of each winemaker that ultimately determine the type of wine we get. Their decisions on the land to plant, the type of grape to choose, the treatments to carry out, when to plow, prune, or harvest have a direct influence on the terroir and the result of each wine.
A wine made from the same type of grape, but in different places and by different people, will never yield the same result. In short, terroir generates the diversity of wines and gives them their raison d'être. Each wine is a world, and it represents the terroir from which it comes, carrying the characteristics of the land in its essence.
