Nature vs. Nurture - Terroir's Influence Beyond the Grape
– wine's sense of place expressed!
Before I get started, for Calgary Winter Club members, please see updated info for a tasting I am offering there on May 23rd. It will now be available to ALL Calgary Winter Club members and their guests. I would love to see you there! Check details in this post below here:
This week my husband decided to start doing blind tastings at home regularly again. He is feeling nostalgic for all the exam preparation blinds we did exactly a year ago. Back then he would insist we do a tasting almost daily even if I wasn’t ‘in the mood’.
Last week. Ménage à trois. Now, blindfolds, should this be rated R?
No blindfolds involved.
Blind tasting means the wine labels are hidden to keep the taster from knowing the wines. We use numbered bags and number the glasses to match the respective wines. It is a common way to learn about and evaluate wines.
It was good timing as I needed to choose the feature wines for Shades of Grape for the next couple weeks.
You decide which wines you feature? I assumed Cork Fine Wines gave you wines and you just wrote about them for marketing purposes.
Cork Fine Wines and I are independent. I buy the wines and choose which ones to feature myself. Not all wines make the cut. I choose only wines that I assess as very good or outstanding quality.
Blind tastings eliminate preconceived impressions we may have of a wine. This leads to an honest evaluation. The wines tasted this week reinforced to me how much they are influenced by their environment. Let’s discuss nurture (environment/terroir) vs. nature (the grape itself).
Let’s take this week’s featured wine as an example: Wynns Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra, South Australia.
Are all Cabernet Sauvignon wines the same?
Definitely not!
If you were to narrow them down to only new world Cabernet Sauvignons, would they always be the same.
Nope!
Are there certain characteristics that are similar?
You are asking me? Who is the wine specialist here?
Yes, there are certain characteristics that are similar. These would be the elements related to the grape itself (nature), in its DNA if you will.
I have touched on the concept of terroir in a few posts recently but didn’t elaborate on it fully. Now is the time!
Terroir is a word that covers all the elements that impact the wine. It involves things such as climate, elevation, growing conditions (including soil), vineyard management, winemaking, and other elements impacted by humans. Human influences mean all practices and decisions made in the vineyard and winery, often linked to historical traditions, the local cuisine, and a wine's intended food pairings.
On the nose, the Wynns was all about eucalyptus for me! It was so precise. Is that nurture vs. nature? Definitely nurture - or “the environment” or “the terroir”.
The Cabernet Sauvignon grape can have an herbal note. This comes from both his parents (nature) - Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. The herbal-ness can vary from green pepper to mint to thyme etc. … and that is from the grape itself. BUT when we have a distinct eucalyptus note on an Australian Cab, it is from eucalyptus tree oils traveling in the air and landing on the grapes in the vineyard or during transport to the winery. Those oils are part of the environment, part of the ‘terroir’, and therefore give the wine what is described as a “sense of place!”
Cool! What else?
Classically Cab Sauv has a high level of fine-grained tannins – that is all nature. That is the grape’s native characteristic – his personality!
I really don’t understand tannins to be honest.
Tannin is the element in wine that is drying and astringent, sometimes even bitter.
Tannin at a high enough level leaves a detectable coating in your mouth. It could be detected anywhere in your mouth (cheeks, gums, or tongue etc.) It can be described as a grippiness.
Black or Green Tea and certain dark chocolate also have tannins. Some will give that same bitterness and sensation/texture in the mouth. Try steeping black or green tea for different amounts of time and notice the difference in tannin concentration.
Back to grapes!
Even though the tannins are in the skins, seeds, and stems of the grapes – which is nature - there is also environmental influence on them. But they will manifest themselves differently depending on how the grape was handled in the vineyard and winery (nurture).
So, a combination of nature and nurture then.
Exactly, for Cab Sauv, the tannins will likely be high as it is in the grape’s nature. However, where the tannins lie on the high tannin spectrum is based on its handling in the vineyard and the winery (nurture).
For example, the harvest date is a human choice. The less ripe the grape’s tannins are at harvest time the more harsh, aggressive, and bitter the tannins can be. In the winery (nurture), the amount of time the winemaker chooses to leave the juice from the pressed grapes in contact with the skin, seeds, and stems will impact the concentration of tannins present in the wine.
This Coonawarra’s tannins are high quality, ripe, and fine grained!
Wynns Coonawarra Estate Black Label 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra, South Australia
Style: New World Full Body Red
Varieties: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
This wine has an ethereal feel to it from the lifting effect of the eucalyptus on the nose! It has intense black fruit notes of: black plum, cassis and black cherry, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and cedar. This rich wine has a long finish, well integrated alcohol and tannins, as well as complexity and concentration of flavors!
Best pairings: Steak or Lamb grilled on the Barbie, Rich Beef Stew, Hearty Mushroom Risotto, Grilled Portabello Stuffed with Feta or Goat’s Cheese & Sun-dried Tomatoes, Cheeses such as Aged Cheddar or Stilton.
Serving Temperature: 18 degrees Celsius
Price: ~$30 Cdn (incl. Shades of Grape 15% discount & 5% gst)
Serving Tips: Enjoy!
I have compiled all my wine recommendations in one place. I will do my best to keep this up to date. I also include the link(s) to the article in which the wine was featured.
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SOURCES:
Wine & Spirit Education Trust (2021) D3: Wines of the World - An accompaniment to the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines. Version 1.2. London: Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Love this Eveline! I wish I was in Calgary to try wine tasting with you... it all sounds so mysterious and fun!
I've been enjoying quite a few Aussie wines this week while in Australia. Will see if I can note the eucalyptus next copa. 😍