A Sense of Place Rachel Black
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Viewpoint Grapes in Treviso, Italy A Sense of Place Rachel Black Finding a neutral definition of the term terroir ceptions, that academics started theorizing about is not an easy task. For some, it can mean the soil the topic. Two camps of ‘terroiristes’ emerged: those and microclimate that imparts a distinct taste to a who only considered the soil and microclimate, wine. For others, the concept of terroir includes the and others who included human interventions and human expertise and craftsmanship that goes into culture in their definition. In 1998, geologist James growing grapes and making wine. In the end, ter- Wilson published a book entitled Terroir: The Role roir might sound like an extravagant French term of Geology, Climate, and Culture in the Making of to many people. However, it is a concept that has French Wines. In this volume, Wilson aims to show brought about a considerable amount of debate how, in the end, it is the uniqueness of soil that de- among academics and the wine industry. Why does fines a wine and gives it a taste of place. terroir matter so much? Why is it becoming an Master of Wine and Boston University lecturer important topic for producers of luxury food and Bill Nesto has taken a similar stance on the concept wines in North America? of terroir. He purports that the wines of Alsace offer an excellent case study because of the diversity of The Terroir Debate the soil types: “terroir is channeled through the soil in the vineyard, the husbandry of the vines, and the Winemakers, importers, wine writers, and hoses, tanks, and casks in the wine cellar.” Wilson scholars have all hotly contested the concept of ter- and Nesto do not give much space to human inter- roir. This is a debate that has been raging for a long vention in the terroir concept. They both agree that time, but it was not until the 1990s, with a few ex- grape growers and winemakers should try not to in- Fall 2012 | Boston Hospitality Review 13 tervene too much with the grapes. This can be seen terroir makes a case for uniqueness. Here we can as a ‘naturalist’ view of terroir. Nature, not human apply concepts of scarcity. A limited supply of a dis- intervention, is responsible for shaping taste. tinct wine that is in high demand will fetch a much One of the main issues that social scientists and higher price than a mass-produced alternative. wine critics have with this ‘naturalist’ view of terroir is that it obscures the huge amount of technology Regulating Terroir and labor involved in producing wine. Amy Tru- bek’s book Taste of Place: A Culinary Journey into The creation of theAppellation d’Origine Con- Terroir is one of the most recent publications to trôlée (AOC) system in France is a classic example bring to light the necessity of including culture in of protectionist legislation. Laws about geographic the concept of terroir. She was not the first to make designation go back to the fifteenth century and this point. Much earlier, the French historian Roger have been applied to not only wine, but also other Dion also pointed out the idea that land created by food products, most notably cheese. Encouraged by nature or god is somewhat mythical. wine producers, French legislation further devel- The great vineyards of Burgundy are prime ex- oped AOC laws to protect against the wine fraud amples of the ways in which soil was brought from that was predominant in the late nineteenth cen- other places and entire hillsides were reshaped by tury and early twentieth century. human hands and later machines. The danger in Laws such as AOC politicize the construction naturalizing terroir is that we end up obscuring of place and imply relationships of power between the complex human processes and reasoning that local actors. Demossier has argued that this pro- go into the construction of this concept. However, cess is about exclusion. The rich landowners are there are some interesting motivations for erasing privileged and get to play a part in the creation of human hands in winemaking. boundaries, while the laborers and small landown- Marion Demossier has brought to light the po- ers are marginalized in this process. It is important litical and economic reasons for this emphasis on to point out that the boundaries of AOCs are not place rather than on production methods. Methods constructed by nature. Sometimes there is a river can be reproduced, but the naturalist argument for or a hill involved in legitimating the mapping pro- Vineyard in Alsace, France 14 Boston Hospitality Review | Fall 2012 Rob Russell at Westport Rivers Vineyard cess, but in the end, the drawing up of these maps with everyone on a level playing field. Generally, is politically and economically determined. AOCs large, and often industrial, interests come to the are a process of human geography that has shaped fore. Although these regulations are put in place to mental and physical maps over time. protect artisanal production, this is not always what With all this historical baggage, is the concept happens. The codification process is also counterin- of terroir exclusively French? There is some debate tuitive to the cultures that have created these wines on this point as well. The idea of terroir seems to be and foods. Culture is in constant evolution, but most applicable to European food and wine, where these codes represent attempts to seal off cultural there is a long history of artisanal production and processes and artifacts in a static vacuum. negotiation of norms and regulations. Now and in The need and desire to protect local products the past, economic interests in the European luxury and practices are certainly motivated by issues of food and wine industries have heightened efforts fraud, which are becoming more problematic with to define authenticity and limit the production of the global exchange of luxury products. One only certain foods and wine. In most European coun- needs to look to the wine trade in major auction tries, you will find some sort of certification pro- houses to see that fraud is an issue. This is not a cess that attests to the authenticity of foodstuffs and new problem. The French have been unsuccessfully wine. Italy has Denominazione d’origine controllata attempting to assure the provenance and quality of (DOC) and Spain has Denominaciones de Origen wine for some time. High profile cases of auction Calificada (DOCa). Nearly all of these certifications house wine fraud have been making the interna- tie authenticity foremost to place. In addition, the tional headlines lately. production methods for wine and food are outlined and codified in these certifications. A Taste of Place in the New World This produces some interesting challenges and reveals another layer of complexity in the concept Trubek, an anthropologist at the University of of terroir. Who gets to decide what the correct Vermont, has looked at the notion of importing ter- production methods are? The actors involved and roir to the United States, arguing that all places can those who have been deemed part of the official express unique characteristics, whether in wine or place where production is allowed to occur negoti- other food and drink. She first searches for a notion ate these definitions. This is not a neutral process of the taste of place in the Old World, and then tries Fall 2012 | Boston Hospitality Review 15 Westport Rivers Vineyard to see whether it also manifests itself in the New of wine in the world, and wine is produced in all World. Many of the issues concerning place and 50 states. California, which has had a thriving wine taste are different in North America. There is not industry since the end of Prohibition, produces the the same weight of history. New traditions are in majority of all grapes and wine. Napa is known for the process of being invented, and there is a great its robust Cabernet Sauvignon wines and rich Char- deal of experimentation happening in the United donnay. By contrast, New England, one of the first States when it comes to producing distinctive food areas of this country to be colonized by Europeans, and drink. is only in its infancy when it comes to growing vitis The recent rise in American artisanal products vinifera and producing quality table wines. – in particular wine, cheese, and beer – is in part a reaction to the largely industrial nature of the food A Massachusetts Terroir Story supply. In addition, food safety issues have become a constant worry. Consumers are more eager than Wine producers in Massachusetts are still ever to know the source of their food. They want struggling to defineterroir . The extreme climatic to meet their farmer, or at least know where their challenges on the eastern seaboard have been the food is from. In this sense, the importance of place main impediment to production and the definition in American food and wine is different from the of a sense of place. Grape growers must find mi- French concept and history of terroir. croclimates that are suited to the production of this Defining taste of place or expressing aterroir is somewhat finicky vine. In addition, understand- a work in progress for much of the American wine ing what kinds of grapes to grow and how to vinify industry. The growing ofvitis vinifera (grapes suit- them has proven challenging. able for making quality wine) in the United States There is one success story that stands out in this only began with the arrival of European colonists, small field of Massachusetts wine producers.