15
Stained, warped and terroir rich: the global and shockingly sustainable lives of wine barrels
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 13 May 2025
15 points (89.5% liked)
Excellent Reads
2182 readers
1 users here now
Are you tired of clickbait and the current state of journalism? This community is meant to remind you that excellent journalism still happens. While not sticking to a specific topic, the focus will be on high-quality articles and discussion around their topics.
Politics is allowed, but should not be the main focus of the community.
Submissions should be articles of medium length or longer. As in, it should take you 5 minutes or more to read it. Article series’ would also qualify.
Rules:
- Common Sense. Civility, etc.
- Server rules.
- Please either submit an archive link, or include it in your summary.
Other comms that might be of interest:
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I honestly have no idea what you are talking about.
Terroir applies to many things. A sheep cheese made in the same style on the island of Pag in Croatia, and one in Iberia are not the same. Likewise, a San Marzano tomato grown in Australia is not the same. AOC, DOC, PDO, and many classifications exist for reasons beyond protectionism. In any case that's not what the article is about.
Nowhere do I see that contested in the article, in fact it says the opposite.
The article, which obviously I found interesting, is about the journey of a barrel. I thought others might find it interesting as well. I had no idea they were as long lived, or put to so many uses.
I know terroir is a marketing point, that's without question. But, that's not the focus of the article.
Terroir originally applied to grapes, it now applies to many more things. I can tell you, IMHO, where the best cashews come from, or peanuts, oregano, avocados, sumac, buckwheat, or sage. The same things apply to other crops besides grapes. The Côte Chalonnaise vs Côte d'Or is real, as is the difference between Yerba Mate from Paraguay vs from Brazil.
Ok, I don't know enough about it. Is that stated in the article though? Because I can't find it. Even if it did say that (spoiler, it does not) I would not find that very surprising. I have been mushroom picking and I said 'there's a bunch here' and they said 'don't bother, they're shit'. The difference was one side of a 20 metre valley to the other. Soil, sun, drainage, and a lot more really matter.
How is your second statement true? Its exactly the Côte discussion, if opposite sides of a valley matter then larger distances do as well. Terroir is about a specific place, it does not matter if the distance is 2 miles or a thousand, terroir is the difference.
If you want to argue that terroir is more important in some crops and less in others I would agree.
I hate to ask, but did you actually read the article? The word terroir is used twice, both times attributed to the same person.
Terroir is not what the article is about.