Terroir is a tricky concept.  A broad French term (‘sense of place’ is the most common translation)  used to signal specificity (Randall Graham of Bonny Doon identifies it as “the precise opposite of nowhereness”), it is among the first wine words most of us learn, and one that remains central to our understanding of the subject. Most easily defined as the local environmental factors - climate, soil composition, vegetation, topography - that affect the flavor of a particular wine, what exactly constitutes terroir and whether or not it even matters is the source of considerable controversy amongst vintners and  eonphilies alike. Maximalists assert that anything that goes into the production of the wine, winemaking technique included, counts as terroir, while others insist it is only the natural constants that qualify, leaving out variables like grapes, vintages and human intervention of any kind. For us, the debate itself illuminates how much the concept of terroir frames what we talk about when we talk about wine, and why we care so much in the first place. So this month we are featuring two winemakers whose efforts are excellent arguments for the continuing relevance of terroir: Chilean Pedro Parra, and Nicolas Mariotti Bindi of Corsica. 

Pedro Parra has spent most of his life pondering the relationship between wine and terroir. Following an early career as a jazz musician, he attained an actual PhD in terroir from the Paris Center of Agriculture, and his work as a consultant for wineries on four continents has made him legendary for digging six feet deep soil pits (‘calicatas’) to help growers understand the below ground composition of their vineyards (hence the miner’s rock hammer on his wine labels.) In 2017, he realized a long-held dream and founded Pedro Parra Y Familia in the remote Itata Valley of his native Chile. About 500km south of Chile’s capital, Santiago, in the region of Bío Bío, Itata’s historical isolation from the rest of the Chilean wine industry provided a golden opportunity for Parra to put in practice his contention, derived from years studying French terroir, that geology is the key natural component in viticulture. “Rocks matter most”, in other words - and in Itata, that means 220-300 million year old, quartz laden granite soils, supporting some very old  vines. More specifically, Pedro prizes the rare white granite  compositions that he calls ‘chambolic’, which impart a characteristic minerality, elegance and finesse to the wines. The 2019 Imaginador is a vindication of his efforts; mostly composed of Cinsault, a southern French grape with Pinot Noir-like terroir sensitivity, it is beguiling blend of unique and familiar, a soft, slightly aromatic red with a mineral backbone and smoky overlay that will pair wonderfully with a slight chill and summer cuisine. 

Like Pedro Parra, Nicolas Mariotta Bindi began his professional education in another field - initially moving to Paris to read law at the Sorbonne - before switching to wine,  studying with some local masters, and eventually  returning home to farm his native soil. Bindi is from Corsica, the fourth largest, and most mountainous, island in the Medditeranean. It was once ruled from Genoa before the French took over, in time for Napoleon Bonaparte to be born there a French citizen. But Corsica has always been a world of its own, with a viticultural tradition dating back thousands of years, and idiosyncratic microclimates that today comprise nine appellations. Bindi’s plots are in Patrimonio, on the northern coast, the oldest AOC in Corsica. Composed of mostly clay and limestone soils, there is enough internal variance within his fifteen hectares that Bindi divides his vines into four separate terroirs.  Our selection this month is 100% Vermentinu  (known as Rolle in France and, of course,  Vermentino in Italy) from Bindi’s  "Cantina di Torra'' label, which comes from a collection of 7.5 hectares of north-facing parcels called "Carcu." The vines were planted in 1970, 1996, and 2006 on clay and limestone and were recently converted to organic farming by Nicolas. It is a great example of specifically Corsican spin on a southern European grape, with a startlingly aromatic and lush nose leading to a classically structured, varietally correct and immensely satisfying palate.

Cheers,

The PlumpJack Wine Team